CALLS were made today for action to tackle yobs who are ruining the image of Weymouth seafront.

The latest act of vandalism at Greenhill cost a café owner hundreds of pounds in lost trade and landed the council with a repair bill.

Offenders wrenched steel water standpipes out of the concrete on the prom leaving chalets and the Greenhill Beach Café above them without water.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council plumbers managed to fix the pipe but a further problem developed with the same pipe which meant the water was not flowing permanently again for two-and-a-half days.

Chalet users say the area has become a night-time haunt for youngsters.

Beer bottles are regularly strewn around and last week a fence near the café was smashed up.

Last season chalets were broken into, had their windows smashed and glue put through locks.

It is feared there will be more trouble this summer if action is not taken.

Miss Downham said: “All this trouble is having a knock-on effect on my business. I couldn’t open the café because we didn’t have any water.

“I had three members of staff hanging around until we found out what was happening.

“We had to throw a lot of food out as well which had been prepared the night before. It took a long time for the water to be back on permanently.”

Miss Downham, who is chairman of the Friends of Greenhill Gardens, says it is a lovely area visited by many during the day – but at night it’s a different story. She believes troublemakers may be congregating there because it is out of view of CCTV cameras in the gardens.

Chalet Users’ Community Group chairman Sue Bray said: “The trouble is the cameras aren’t pointing at this area so people are free to do what they please.

“The chalets used to be more secure when they had shutter doors but the council removed them.”

Chalet owner Jill Uht said: “It’s appalling down here now – we never see a policeman despite the amount of trouble that happens. Youngsters drink in the grounds and use the area as somewhere to get plastered and cause trouble. We have all been asking for CCTV to be installed for ages.”

The borough council said it was working with Dorset Police on the general problem of seafront vandalism.

Property services engineer Bob Savage said: “Acts of mindless vandalism such as this are costing the council tax payer.”

Inspector Pete Meteau of Weymouth police said he was aware of the problem which is seasonal and affects most of the seafront. He said patrols would keep an eye on the area and that the force would soon be introducing an initiative to tackle anti-social behaviour.