A COMMUNITY rallied round at the weekend to make sure a charity ball went ahead after vandals attacked a marquee set up for the event.

The marquee had been put up in a field in Easby, overlooking Easby Abbey, North Yorkshire, and the tickets for the ball had sold out in two weeks.

Tent pegs were removed, the marquee lining was ripped, flowers were destroyed and chandeliers were smashed only hours before 360 guests were due to arrive for The Ball at the Abbey.

Organiser Karen Stephenson, from Easby, near Richmond, said she was in tears when she saw the mess the intruders had made during the early hours of Saturday.

"We went down and saw the whole place had been ransacked - it was a huge shock," she said.

"Fortunately, there was nothing valuable to take, but it had taken hours to put up the marquee and arrange the flowers and tables."

Mrs Stephenson, along with a group of young mothers, had worked for several months to organise the event to raise money for a £90,000 scanner for the Friarage Hospital's maternity ward, in Northallerton.

With caterers booked, singers on their way from London and two auctions planned, everyone was looking forward to a spectacular night.

Mrs Stephenson said: "All I could think is that we had just 12 hours to convert the mess back into the beautiful marquee - with 360 guests coming there was no way we could have called it off.

"It was remarkable how many people in the community came over and rallied round."

The event raised about £45,000 and guests ate and danced the night away, most of them unaware of the earlier events.

To make a donation to the appeal, call Mrs Stephenson on (07774) 801702.