GIRL guides have been forced to dip into funds they have saved for 11 years to pay for damage caused by vandals.

Members of Girlguiding Kidlington were devastated to find their guide hut off Green Road was ransacked last weekend.

Guide leader Ros Letellier said the criminals had targeted a safe space used by hundreds of girls, some as young as five.

She said: “It is extremely sad that they have targeted a space that is used by so many young people.

“The girls come here because it is supposed to be a safe space for them to be able to learn and grow as people.

“It is just really shocking that people think it is okay to do this. It was really spooky when I went in because all the locks had been ripped off the cupboards, and the doors were all wide open.”

Mrs Letellier was alerted to the break in after one of the girls’ dads jogged past the hut and saw the back door flung open.

Although nothing was stolen during the raid, the damage caused to the back door and cupboards means they will have to take money out of the funds they have been saving to completely revamp the building.

Mrs Letellier added: “It is a very old building and we have been fundraising for more than 11 years to be able to rebuild the site and bring it into the 21st Century.

“We are still short of the amount we will need and then when you have to do repairs like this it just takes you one more step back.

“The girls have waited so long to get this rebuilding project off the ground so it is a setback for us.”

The centre was established in the 70s and has been used on a weekly basis for the last 44 years.

Now the concrete is degrading, the wooden doors and windows starting to rot and the cement roofing panels are starting to sag under their accumulation of decades of moss.

By 2014 £100,000 had been raised but this fell well short of the target needed to complete the rebuild, so instead an architect was approached to revamp the existing building.

More money and VAT rates meant there still was not enough money to transform the site.

In 2016 they managed to secure some tenders for the refurbishment but the company they chose went out of business.

James Williams, a spokesman for Thames Valley Police, confirmed that they had received reports of a break in between 3pm on Saturday, July 15 and 8.30am on Sunday, July 16.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police on non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number: 43170209575

To help Girlguiding Kidlington fundraise for their rebuilding project text: GGKI12 £2, £5 or £10 to 70070