An award-winning garden has been trashed by youths in the middle of the night, hours before judges were due to visit.

The Garnet Road shelter for elderly residents prides itself on the garden at the base of the two tower blocks .

It has won more than 10 awards from events like London in Bloom and Croydon in Bloom but on Monday night two young girls destroyed £150 worth of decorative lights.

Resident, Kay O'Meara, 74, said: “We were waiting for the judges to come and the garden looked so beautiful.

“This is a shelter block for the elderly and a lot of us can't get out of our rooms so we look down at the garden from our windows.

“It is so upsetting. I have been crying because of this.

“We saw the two girls pulling the lights of the garden, trashing it. We shouted at them to stop and they just laughed and ran away with the lights.

“It's heartbreaking.”

Do you know who is involved? Let us know in the comments section below.