Cruel vandals have threatened the holiday plans of the 3rd Ongar Scouts after breaking in and smashing up their hall and stealing bikes meant for a jumble sale.

Police are investigating the incident at the Love Lane hut, after a member of the public on Sunday morning reported loud banging coming from inside.

Officers discovered a three foot hole kicked through the wall of the wooden building, smashed trophy cases and broken bottles of alcohol littering the ground.

Although the building has been patched up the thoughless act meant the scouts were not able to hold their jumble stall at the Ongar Carnival.

The tearful youngsters aged 10-13, were told that the thieves took the best of the items they'd worked so hard to collect.

Some had even had their old bikes, donated for the holiday, stolen although one has since been found by police.

Ongar Scout leader Dennis Sweeting said: "There was nothing of value taken, but we estimate its cost us about £300 in repairs."

Mr Sweeting said he believed the culprits could be local teenagers who caused trouble on a regular basis.

He said: "We know exactly who they are, a couple of months ago the kids were out doing some exploring and they started throwing stones at the kids."

"The summer camp holiday is still likely to go ahead but we always tell the kids to raise some of the money themselves for an extra treat, either bowling for a day or a trip to a playpark."

"The kids and the parents were really upset, its pointless and annoying."

"It's sad that these teenagers are the same age as some of our explorer scouts but instead of trying to better themselves they just want to do pointless destructive things."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call PC Mark Sheridan-Brown at Ongar Police station on 0300 333 4444.