Volunteers devastated as vandals attack Pateley Bridge beauty spot

During the weekend of January 28-29, vandals broke into St Mary's church yard; home to remains of St Mary's church and the intact bell tower.

The base of the tower and the entrance to the stairs up the tower are kept secure with two, padlocked, wrought iron gates.

However, on Monday morning, January 30, a volunteer who helps with the upkeep of the yard was shocked to discover that vandals had attacked the older tower.

Both iron gates were forced open with one of the gates damaged so seriously that volunteers have warned it will prove expensive to repair or replace.

The vandals then entered the tower and sprawled graffiti on stonework inside the tower. The graffiti included names “Dan”, “Gaz”, and “Taz”.

PC820 Hickson of North Yorkshire Police is now investigating this crime and is appealing for anyone with information to contact the force using the 101 non-emergency number.

Choose option 1 and quote incident number 12170016783. Alternatively, contact PC Hickson by email; [email protected]