VANDALS have ransacked a bird hide only months after it opened on a nature reserve.

Volunteers are today staging a clear-up at the wheelchair-accessible vantage point overlooking Joe's Pond, on Durham Wildlife Trust's Rainton Meadows site.

The trust raised £9,000 to develop the disabled-friendly hide, with a lower viewing hatch and an approach pathway suitable for wheelchairs.

It looks over an old claypit, which is a former coal board reservoir. It was developed and conserved by the ex-landowner, Joe Wilson, who it was named after.

The pond and surrounding ten-acre reserve, on the County Durham and Sunderland boundary, near Houghton-le-Spring, became the trust's headquarters in recent years.

But since opening in October, the hide has also attracted local youths, with volunteers having to clear remains of drug-taking equipment, drink cans and graffiti.

It reached a peak earlier this week, when wardens arrived to find the worst graffiti attack to date, plus hatches and insulating material ripped up, broken glass and litter and a wheelbarrow tipped in the pond.

Trust marketing and development officer Sharon Coldwell said: "One of the great things about the site is that it's on the urban fringe, easily accessible to large numbers of people.

"This also means a minority element have easy access to abuse the site.

"We've had problems for a couple of months. The hide is obviously being used as a hang out, but this was the worst.

"It's a shame, because you can't stop people if they want to go there on an evening, but they're going to ruin it for everyone."

She said the police had agreed to step up visits by community support officers and she also urged people in the area to report any suspicious activity on the site.

Concerns can be reported to police on 0191-454 7555, or the trust offices on 0191-584 3112