COUNCIL officials have condemned the 'mindless vandalism' that has left gravestones in Northwich damaged.

Police were called out after yobs attacked the gravestones at Witton Church cemetery.

The offenders damaged decorative angels and doves on the stones. The incident happened between 5pm on April 7 and 2.20pm the following day. The cost of the damage is not yet known.

Steve Sharman, chief executive of Northwich Town Council, described the incident as disgraceful and said this level of vandalism was not uncommon.

He said: "You would not believe some of the things that people do to the cemetery. Mindless vandalism is a regular occurrence."

Mr Sharman said the incident took place just out of view from the CCTV security cameras, leading him to believe the culprits knew where the cameras were situated.

He said about nine out of 10 families had their gravestones insured against this sort of occurrence.

He said: "It is sad that families have to do this because of the actions of vandals."

Jeff Sharman, operations manager for Northwich Town Council, said there was only so much the cemetery could do to prevent this behaviour from happening.

He said: "We lock the entrances at dusk and have CCTV cameras in operation. We've also asked police to patrol the area."

He added: "It must be awful for the families. I can only imagine how distressing it must be."

Steve Sharman said the gravestones were currently undergoing repairs.

gsproston@guardiangrp.co.uk