Cuckfield Parish Council responds to '˜upsetting' vandalism at village hall

The hall in London Lane was subject to vandalism two nights in a row. Read our earlier story here: Vandals target Cuckfield Village Hall two nights in a row leaving parents ‘worried’

Cuckfield PreSchool, a charity which operates at the village hall, was forced to close for the second day running due to the vandalism.

Speaking on behalf of the parish council, Sam Heynes, parish clerk, said: “It is really upsetting – who would want to do such a thing?

“They smashed ten windows on Sunday at about 9.30pm, and then we got a call at 7.30pm last night, when a yoga class was due to go in, to say 36 windows had been smashed – both incidents didn’t happen that late at night

“No one knows why it has happened – we had a party here just before Christmas and we had security on the door and about 60 to 200 people gatecrashed it – maybe it is linked – I don’t know?”

Sam said repairing the windows was going to cost a couple of thousand pounds. “It is just the inconvenience and cost to the parish council,” she added.

“It was a deliberate act of malice – clearly the staff and councillors are all very disappointed and upset that this has happened. It is a real shame that somebody has decided to do this.”

Sam said the parish council will be looking into increasing security measures. “We will be looking into getting CCTV installed,” she said.

“We already have security lights which light up when people there, but clearly after this, we will be looking into more security.”

Sam confirmed the pre-school was due to reopen tomorrow.

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