ANGRY residents and councillors have hit out at vandals who damaged a water feature on a Darlington roundabout.

Asda, which has a branch in Whinfield Road, paid the borough council £3,000 to sponsor the roundabout at Stockton Road.

All the old planting was removed and replaced with new plants and sandstone rocks, with the water feature as the centrepiece.

A large palm was stolen within the first week of the display being completed and now small rocks have been dropped into the water circulation system, damaging the motor.

Two of the lights used to illuminate the feature at night have also been broken.

Mrs Eileen Shepherd, chairman of the Whinfield residents' association, said: "It's very sad because it is really nice, but now mindless vandals have ruined it. We haven't got much else in Whinfield and this sort of thing stops other people wanting to sponsor things to enhance the area."

Ward councillors for the Haughton East area say they are saddened and disgusted at the vandals' behaviour. They appealed for people to report any vandalism or anti-social behaviour to the police.

Mr Seane Wilkinson, the general manager at the Asda store, said: "It's unfortunate that some people find it more amusing to create a bit of distress for everyone else.

"The roundabout is seen by everybody coming in and going out of the town in this area and a lot of people get pleasure from it. We are as dismayed as everyone else."

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said on Wednesday that engineers would be going out to assess the damage soon and the council would carry out any repairs that were necessary