VANDALS have scarred a memorial to a local footballing hero.

The family and friends of Steve Whittington, who was the inspiration behind the football team at Wolsingham Working Men's Club, have been "saddened and sickened" by damage caused to a bench installed in his memory.

The vandals, believed to be youngsters, have hacked at the seat with knives and have attempted to carve graffitti into it.

The bench was installed near the football ground as a permanent memorial to Mr Whittington, who died in 1998.

Parish councillor Ken Charlton, who discovered the damage to the bench, said: "It sickened and saddened me.

"It's a shame that a memorial like this can't be left in peace. It looks like the work of idle kids".

The parish council has written to Mr Whittington's widow, Pauline, and her family, expressing sadness at the vandalism.

Former members of the team, which was wound up at the end of last season, have volunteered to move the bench from its site overlooking their old ground.

It will then be repaired and given a "very special place" in the Whittingtons' garden, in Wolsingham.

The football club presented the bench, which carries an engraved plaque on the back, to Mr Whittington's family a year ago as a tribute to the work he had done for the club.

Apart from being manager of the football team for ten years, Mr Whittington marked out the pitch and hung the goal nets before each match.

Mrs Whittington said: "I was heartbroken when I saw what they had done to the bench. It was such a lovely gesture by the club that Steve's memorial should be overlooking the football ground he had loved so much for so many years.

"Although the bench itself has been damaged, it is strange that the memorial plaque has not been touched.