A BUSINESS has stepped in to fund a new community bench after the old one was destroyed by vandals.

The bench, behind the bus stop in Manchester Road, Kearsley, was left in pieces after someone ripped it out of the ground and smashed it, in the early hours of Sunday, August 26.

It was initially funded using money from the popular Kearsley Scarecrow Festival, which is used on a range of community projects.

However, a nearby business has now replaced the bench, in an effort to give something back to the town.

Danny Hird, of P & D Heating and Bathrooms, in Market Street, Farnworth, said he and his partner, Paul Sharples had wanted to try and help as soon as they heard about the problem.

“It came from Facebook really,” he explained. “It came up when a family member commented on it. People use that bench when they are shopping and they sit there waiting for the bus.

“There’s been a lot going on in Kearsley to make things look nicer and we hadn’t been part of it as much as I would have liked, so it’s really just our way of giving something back.

“There are more good lads in Kearsley than bad and people should know that.”

Police opened an investigation into the vandalism which is thought to have occurred at around 1am when no one was around.

Tracey Wilkinson organises the scarecrow festival and helped to fund seven benches, as well as new flower planters for the town, using funds from the event.

She said the damage had left her team “heartbroken”.

She explained: “I was told there had been some vandalism but I was shocked when I saw what had happened. It has been completed smashed to smithereens, somebody has been at that for a good long while to do that kind of damage.

“We really need anyone who has seen anything to come forward. Our team are absolutely heartbroken by this.”

The new bench was placed last Thursday, September 13.