VANDALS launched a sustained attack on Okehampton?s Mill Road toilets last week, causing more than £3,000 worth of damage.

The toilets have had to be closed after the attack due to the severity of the damage.

The facilities are owned by West Devon Borough Council.

Contracts manager Helen Dobby said it was a ?serious? case.

Mrs Dobby said: ?All the ladies? toilets have been smashed, the hand drier had been set on fire and they?d also tried to light a fire in the handbasin.

?We are looking at damage in the region of £3,500 and, unfortunately, we?ve had to lock the toilets up because they?re unusable.?

Mrs Dobby said everything in the ladies? toilets which was possible to be damaged had been attacked, including the baby changing unit.

She said the police had been informed of the incident, which occurred between 7am on December 11 and 3pm on December 12. Signs directing the public to the closest public conveniences in Market Street have been erected at the site.

Mrs Dobby said she could not say how long it would be before the public conveniences will be open once more.

?We are trying to make sure they are opened as soon as possible, but obviously we are going to have to order replacement driers ? as soon as we have the parts in that we require, they will be repaired,? she said.

Sergeant Dave Anning at Okehampton Police Station said: ?This must have been a sustained spree of damage and that sort of activity must have made a tremendous amount of noise.

?We would like anyone who may have heard anything to contact us at Okehampton Police Station.?

Sgt Anning said the attack in the ladies? toilet was ?unbelievably inconsiderate? and police did not know if it was males or females who had caused the damage.

?To smash up a toilet you would have to use something fairly substantial,? said Sgt Anning, who said anyone who had information on anyone carrying a hammer or similar item during the time in question should contact police.

Meanwhile, the new toilets at Fairplace, which have been built by the borough council during the last few months, are due to be opened within the next few days.