Vandals threaten future of paintball firm

A Telford paintball business was on the brink of collapse today after vandals struck at the base and caused about £2,000 damage.

Adrian Hodnett-Howard, owner of Salop Paintball Games in Nedge Hill, claimed the incident was the latest in a long line of attacks and he was now considering throwing in the towel.

He said: "I will have to fully assess the damage and see if it is worth repair again but it has got to the stage where I might have to pack up."

Mr Hodnett-Howard, of The Rock, Telford, said that the vandals had struck some time overnight on Saturday at the 20-acre site.

He said: "Someone vandalised the safe area, burnt out tyres and attacked and vandalised some of the buildings on site, burning them out as well.

"I haven't bothered reporting it to the police.

Repairing

"I have been going at the site for 19 years and there have been several acts of vandalism before.

"We keep repairing it but this might be the death knell for the business this time," he added.

"It has got to the stage where I might have to pack up."

Mr Hodnett-Howard said that he had been too upset to fully assess the damage when he discovered it.

However, he was planning to visit the site to see whether the business could possibly be salvaged.

He added that it would be a very tough decision to make as paintballing parties were extremely popular among children and adults as well as for stag and hen parties.

Mr Hodnet-Howard said his Telford site was an excellent site for paintballing and the firm offered fully marshalled paintballing games for players of all ages and abilities.

Telford police spokesman Chris Ammonds said that he was not aware of any reports of vandalism having been made about the site over the last 13 years.

By Simon Hardy