GARDENERS were left heartbroken after cruel thieves broke into and damaged a community allotment site in Ardrossan, stealing hundreds of pounds worth of items.

A gardening rotavator and a camping stove were among the possessions taken during the break-in at the Three Towns Growers’ allotments sometime overnight between Tuesday, June 28 and Wednesday 29.

Denise Gilmour, chairperson of the Three Towns Growers, said: “It’s really disappointing. Everyone feels a wee bit slumped by it, and a bit down.

“I arrived at the site in the morning to open the gates and all the shed doors were open and some of the padlocks had been broken.

“They stole the rotavator, which was worth about £200, and the camping stove we use to make tea.

“It’s a real inconvenience but it’s more about the damage done to the site than anything else.

“It’s a really good community project and having that done has kind of broken our trust.

“There are members, vulnerable people, with learning difficulties who are really benefiting from the social inclusion from being on the site and going to the allotments is a really big part of their day. To have that done to their property is awful.

“We have been very trusting and this feels as if it’s been an abuse of that trust.”

Unfortunately, the Three Towns Growers recently discovered more damage done to their site, thought to have been inflicted sometime after the break-in.

Denise said: “At the weekend we noticed that someone had set fire to a pile of wood. It was about £50 worth of wood that the owner had piled up to use for building raised beds and someone’s come in and destroyed it.”

She added: “We’re not going to let these incidents get us down. It’s a community project and it will continue to be that.”

A spokeswoman from Police Scotland said that their enquiries into the break-in were ongoing.