CHARITY fundraisers have been left to pick up the bill after vandals struck at the venue of a fireworks display.

Crowds of people had enjoyed the event put on by members of the Keynsham and Downend Round Table, helping to give a boost to local charities.

But club members were devastated when they returned to the King George V Playing Fields in Downend the next morning to start clearing up and discovered that yobs had smashed some of the portable lights that had been hired for the night.

Andrew Simmonds, the main organiser of the display, fears it could cost £1,000 to repair the lights, taking a large proportion of the profits away from the Round Table's charity fund.

Mr Simmonds, 29, said: "We had had a really successful night, with up to 9,000 people enjoying the event and helping to raise money for the charities we support.

"We had left the playing fields on a high at the end of what was a fantastic event because it was one of the best ever and we thought we had raised about £6,000 for the charity fund.

"But I got to the field the next morning and was told that four of the lighting towers had been smashed and glass left all over the place. It's mindless vandalism. We had to have the lights for health and safety reasons so people could find their way around the site.

"We will have to foot the bill for the repairs and that means using some of the money we had raised for local organisations to cover the cost."

Mr Simmonds said the charity fund was used for all kinds of reasons – from getting equipment for youth groups to buying aids for the disabled.

The annual fireworks display is one of the big fundraisers in the club's calendar and is enjoyed by families from a wide area.

Organisers left the site at about 11pm on Friday and it is thought the vandals struck at about 4am on Saturday.

The police have been informed and are investigating the incident.