ONGOING vandalism in Williton's Memorial Ground is threatening the future of the children's play area.

Parish councillors, who as trustees manage the village facility, said this week that damage to the equipment was continuing.

And chairman Cllr Robert McDonald warned that the authority did not have a bottomless pit of cash to keep making repairs.

Cllr McDonald told the council's monthly meeting on Monday that the main areas targeted by vandals were the story telling corner, the tunnel and new fencing installed when a £24,000 revamp of the play area was carried out more than a year ago.

But he said there had also been damage to the goal post on the main playing field, which had been lifted out of the ground and would now have to be removed on safety grounds.

The ground was also frequently strewn with rubbish.

"We cannot continually pay out a lot of money for repairs," said Cllr McDonald.

"Unfortunately there will come a time when we might have to close down certain areas of the play area if they continue to be vandalised.

"Money for repairs is being taken away from other resources - we only have a finite amount of money and it is public money, taxpayers' money."

Cllr McDonald said the problems were being caused by "the few" but the situation could not be ignored.

"At some stage we will have to say enough is enough and close it down - we do not have a bottomless pit."

Cllr Rebecca James questioned whether the play area in particular could be "closed off" after dusk.

"That is when the vandalism is taking place. If we made it out of bounds after dark then it might help to catch the culprits," she said.

"The more we have restrictions in place, the more chance we have of stopping people misbehaving."

Cllr McDonald said he believed there were laws that they could ask the police to look into and the issue would be investigated.

Councillors are also launching a crackdown on dog owners who fail to clear up after their pets with a new publicity drive on the council's dog control policy.

New signs will be going up at the entrances to the ground and on noticeboards .

The policy requires dogs to be kept under control and for owners to clear up faeces and dispose of it in the bins provided.

It also reminds people that the responsibility for removing dog mess lies with owners or whoever is in charge of the dog.

And it makes it clear that failure to comply could result in a fixed penalty of £75 or a conviction which could attract a maximum £1,000 fine.

But the campaign against vandalism and dog mess is being coupled with a new drive to increase the number of events taking place on the ground.

A working group of councillors has drawn up a list of potential activities which, in addition to the annual fete, could include duck racing and a cricket festival.