RESIDENTS have been left devastated after an arson attack at a popular town play park.A tubular slide, installed about two years ago at Pageant Field in Framlingham as part of £40,000 worth of refurbishment work at the site, was badly damaged in the blaze.

RESIDENTS have been left devastated after an arson attack at a popular town play park.

A tubular slide, installed about two years ago at Pageant Field in Framlingham as part of £40,000 worth of refurbishment work at the site, was badly damaged in the blaze.

The new recreation equipment is a source of great pride in the town, and the site is a popular play area.

Police and firefighters were called to the scene at around 10.50pm on Saturday night.

The damage to the slide and surrounding safety surface will cost around £5,000 to fix.

Town clerk Eileen Coe said. "We are just absolutely horrified. It's just mindless vandalism," she said.

The town was suffering vandalism problems at the moment, particularly at weekends, she added.

But this was the first time the play park had been targeted in such a way. The vandalism in the town consisted of incidents such as hanging baskets getting ripped off and "silly things", she said.

She and husband Kevin Coe, a town councillor, had been at the site at around 7.30pm on Saturday, picking up litter.

"This is basically just before the summer holidays and I mean the youngsters have such a wonderful time up there and we have done such a lot of work," she said.

"It's devastating really. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of it."

A police spokeswoman said they were treating the incident as arson. She asked anyone with information about the blaze to contact PC Matthew Gould on 01986 835300.