A SICKENED minister is struggling to make sense of an orgy of vandalism at his Northallerton church.

More than 40 missiles were hurled at the United Reformed church last Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday.

Valuable Victorian stained glass was broken in windows surrounding the church hall.

But the Rev John Parker is particularly upset as he feels his church does more than most to help the local community.

"It is a kick in the teeth," he said.

The vandalism came in the same week that police in Northallerton and Romanby were granted special powers to crack down on groups of youths causing trouble or nuisance.

New dispersal orders came into force only yesterday.

Items including bricks, stones and lumps of granite were thrown at the church, which is just off the High Street. The vandals left 11 holes in the hall windows.

"It was horrific," said Mr Parker. "The place was lathered in glass in our meeting and coffee rooms, which are used a lot by the public. It was all shattered.

"Six big windows were out in the hall.

"I called a team together and we cleaned up as best we could but we were still picking up bits of glass by midweek.

"Repairs will be done as soon as possible but everything has been boarded up in the meantime. We are having to live with huge holes in the hall windows."

Mr Parker had no idea of the value of the damage but said the old Victorian coloured glass would be worth quite a lot.

"I feel disappointed because we pour an awful lot into the community. We run a pantry; host Churches Together projects; and give a tenth of our income to poor people. We are involved with the community in so many ways," he said.

Spates of damage are not new at the church. It spends up to £2,000 a year on replacement glass for the hall. Bricks have even been thrown while the congregation was at worship.

"We get a lot of flak from young people," said Mr Parker. "The anti-social behaviour has got to be taken seriously and those who say there are no problems should spend a bit of time in the town centre and see for themselves."

Insp Simon Lovell said the incident was very regrettable.

"We are doing all we can, including looking at CCTV footage, and will make our best efforts to catch those responsible for this," he said.

"We are putting crime prevention measures in place to allay concerns and try to ensure this does not happen again."

Only last week, Insp Lovell outlined to town councillors how the new dispersal order powers would work but pledged that police would not be "heavy-handed" in dealing with young people.

Police and Hambleton Council are piloting the scheme for the county. Insp Lovell told the town council: "We want to nip in the bud a small, but growing, public order issue involving particular gangs."

The orders allow police to disperse groups of two or more people and those involved can be made to leave the area.