VOLUNTEERS working to restore a 90-year-old shelter for visitors to a beauty spot have been left “really upset” after it was vandalised.

The shelter in The Walls, Mistley, was being restored amid a two month project by The Rotary Club of Manningtree Stour Valley after its condition had deteriorated.

Past President Stephen Coiley, 70, said Rotarians had undertaken about £2,000 worth of works on the structure, believed to date back to 1933, for free.

But they were left gutted after finding it had been trashed by vandals overnight on Wednesday.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: The Rotary Club of Manningtree Stour ValleyThe Rotary Club of Manningtree Stour Valley (Image: The Rotary Club of Manningtree Stour Valley)

Mr Coiley and colleague Steve Durham arrived at the shelter expecting to finish the project but instead found the fresh coat of paint had been stripped off and the wood was damaged.

Burn marks were found on the structure while wet paint signs and tape cordoning it off were left strewn across the road.

Some of the volunteers working on the project are in their late eighties and have been left “disheartened” by the incident.

“When we came back it was sheer chaos, there was paint and tape across the road,” said Mr Coiley, who has been a Rotarian for five years.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Teamwork - volunteers working on the shelter in MistleyTeamwork - volunteers working on the shelter in Mistley (Image: The Rotary Club of Manningtree Stour Valley)

“Why do it? I just can’t see the rationale at all. A clean and tidy shelter is as good for whoever did this as it is for anyone else.

“We were really upset because we thought we had pulled it off. We had come down to do the last bit so we could arrange for the sign to go up and a proper handover to the parish council.

“Yet there we were and it was wrecked.”

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Hard at work - the project to restore the shelter has been ongoing since the start of JulyHard at work - the project to restore the shelter has been ongoing since the start of July (Image: The Rotary Club of Manningtree Stour Valley)

Mr Coiley said up to £400 worth of materials had been donated by Rotarians to get the refurbishment, which started in July, underway.

“The shelter was getting really bad. The metal work was rusted, the woodwork was breaking up and the paint peeling from the seats. It was in a sorry state,” he added.

“We thought we would tidy it up the best we could, just to make it a nice place for people to sit in and to make The Walls look nice for visitors to Mistley.”