A POPULAR footpath has been closed off after a spate of vandal attacks caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to a factory.

Bradshaw Works, a sheet metal company, has been blighted by yobs smashing windows and wrecking expensive equipment at its premises in Bradshaw Road.

Police advised the company to padlock a gate across the footpath between Bradshaw Road and Turton Road, Bradshaw, to stop the vandalism.

The firm says 23 separate windows have been smashed over the last seven days.

Recently, a diesel tank was wrenched off a wall allowing the liquid to seep into the nearby Bradshaw Brook.

And firefighters have been called on several occasions after thieves broke into the works and set fire to palates.

The contents of two skips, belonging to a neighbouring sports equipment firm, were also set on fire.

A spokesman for Bradshaw Works said: "We have put up CCTV cameras and roller shutters to try and minimise any further damage. It is costing us so much money.

"The situation is getting out of hand and we have been forced to take the step of padlocking the gate."

The footpath is a private route and belongs to Bradshaw Works.

But the move to close the gate has upset parents whose children attend nearby Turton High School.

They say that the footpath, which has been left open for 25 years, is a well-trodden path for pupils walking to and from school.

George Benson, who has a 15-year-old daughter attending Turton School, said: "Instead of a short quarter-of-a-mile walk to school, children have to take a long trek, which is nearly three miles.

"The route is used frequently by ramblers and it is a beauty spot. It is a shame that it has been blocked off."

Former international runner Steve Kenyon has been using the footpath as part of his jogging route for the past 15 years.

Steve came third in the New York Marathon in 1979 and was the last British runner to win the Great North Run, in 1985.

"Many people use the gate to cut through the Bradshaw Hall estate and its closure will be a big inconvenience," he said.