A NIGHT time exclusion zone around a new village hall is being called for to stop attacks by youngsters who have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage. The parents should be held responsible, said Paul Brenchley, chairman of the village hall commit

A NIGHT time exclusion zone around a new village hall is being called for to stop attacks by youngsters who have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

"The parents should be held responsible," said Paul Brenchley, chairman of the village hall committee at Outwell.

"We have 11 and 12 year-olds who are up here at night as drunk as skunks. Things are made worse because they are getting alcohol from somewhere, but when we go and see parents they are just in denial over what is happening."

Villagers spent 40 years raising funds to build a hall they could be proud of but within weeks of it opening, it has been repeatedly targeted by vandals.

Mr Brenchley says he is "at the end of his tether" after reports of:

* break-ins

* windows smashed

* lights broken

* fences and barriers pulled down

* play equipment damaged.

Mr Brenchley said: "I would like to see an exclusion zone after dark which would be policed. I don't want to have to do it because at the end of the day the hall is for the public but I don't think we have any choice."

"It is constant. They are up here every night and we are exhausting our finances putting the things right again."

The hall committee is hoping to apply for more money to install CCTV.

Mr Brenchley said youngsters currently meet in a shelter next to the hall, which was once used as a referee's hut, and he has been working hard to get a youth cafe built on the site.

He said: "It makes me wonder if we are doing the right thing. Even if they have their own place to meet which they are responsible for, will they keep on damaging the hall?