FURIOUS charity volunteers have criticised vandals who smashed their shop window after they had raised thousands of pounds for the tsunami flood relief appeal.

FURIOUS charity volunteers have criticised vandals who smashed their shop window after they had raised thousands of pounds for the tsunami flood relief appeal.

Volunteers arriving at work at the Oxfam shop in Thoroughfare, Woodbridge, were appalled to find the main window had been broken.

Another charity shop, bookshops and other businesses were also targeted in the centre of Woodbridge during the New Year bank holiday weekend outbreak of vandalism.

Oxfam had been thrilled with the response of the public in Woodbridge to the appeal to provide aid following the tidal wave disaster, but was then stunned to discover the criminal damage, which will cost hundreds of pounds to repair.

One Oxfam volunteer, who asked not to be named, said: "What we really want to do is to shame the people who do this sort of thing at a time when we are trying to raise money for the relief fund.

"We are all volunteers and we are working our socks off, but then you get this mindless vandalism. We are waiting for the damage to be assessed, but we do not have insurance for this sort of thing and the money that will have to be spent will come out of the profits that could have gone towards the relief fund.

"We are absolutely livid at what has happened, it is just so mindless and you cannot do anything to stop it. It is also not a good advertisement for the town to have windows that are boarded up.

"We had had such a wonderful response to the relief appeal and in three days we have collected more than £12,000. Thursday was a particularly wonderful day and then we shut on Friday for the Bank Holiday period, opened on Tuesday and found the window had been smashed."