Vandals damage tomb at church

Civic leaders in Newtown have called for more to be done to tackle underage drinking after vandals struck again and daubed a church tomb with graffiti.

St Mary's is the third church to be targeted around Newtown within a matters of days.

Vandals caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage to the town's United Reform Church and Catholic Church.

Newtown Town Council said the latest attack has caused "considerable" damage to St Mary's Churchyard.

Vandals kicked open a tomb door and sprayed offensive and inappropriate graffiti on a tomb wall.

Dyfed-Powys Police said it was now looking into the matter.

Councillors have now called for more to be done to crack down on underage drinking amid fears it is getting worse.

A spokesman for Newtown Police said: "Over the last few days unknown persons have damaged a tomb door by kicking it open. They have also sprayed offensive and inappropriate graffiti on the rear of the tomb wall and the yard benches have been uplifted."

He said the incident had happened within the last few days.

Councillor Sue Lawson, mayor of Newtown, has now called on police to step up patrols. She said: "I realise that the police can only do so much but this has been an ongoing problem in the town for months and something needs to be done."