Two picnic tables have been reduced to piles of ash and a third has been badly burned after vandals set fire to them at Croxton Trail Park, leaving just one table unscathed.

The seven-acre riverside trail, created on a former landfill site by the River Dane, was opened just two years ago and won a merit award in the North West in Bloom competition.

Jonathan Williams, town council clerk, said: "I'm extremely disappointed about this because the park is an area brought into use for the public.

"It's a lovely area and a nice part of town on what was once a waste site - which is what makes this damage all the more disappointing."

Residents, Middlewich Town Council and Cheshire County Council worked together to create the tranquil park, complete with 2,000 trees and shrubs, a meadow, new footpaths and the picnic area.

Clean Team member George Newton, who saw the charred remains when walking his dog through the park, said: "It gets you very angry because this park was a facility for everyone but the picnic tables have been burned down one by one."

The 52-year-old added: "It was a good scheme and a lot of money had been spent planting wild flowers and trees and building pathways - it had been made really nice."

PC Mike Senior, from Middlewich CAT team, said: "This is very dangerous - fire spreads, especially in the summer, and dry grass can act as an accelerant.

"This is also classed as criminal damage by fire and is an arrestable offence - people should behave more responsibly."

Nature trail vandals leave clerk in a fury