IRRESPONSIBLE vandals smashed the window of a wooden scout hut - by strapping a huge firework to it and setting it alight.

Young tearaways - who attached the rocket with tape - blew a large hole in the window, at Addingham Scout Hut.

Marilyn Doherty, cub leader, said she was shocked at the mindless damage - and that it could have been a lot worse.

She said: "They have taped the rocket and lit it.

" It is a wooden scout hut! The window is going to cost us money and the whole scout hut could have gone up."

The building, on Main Street, was also covered in handfuls of flour.

Mrs Doherty said this was not the first time the hut had been the target of vandals.

She said: "We have had a lot of vandalism.

"They used to put lighted cigarettes through the letterbox so we blocked it up so they can't do that.

" They are just doing it all the time.

"I know they are bored and there is nowhere to go. Sitting there like they do, dropping their litter, we can cope with that but actual damage like that is not good, it is not on."

Mrs Doherty, who has been a cub leader for 14 years, said she and other leaders now faced a clean-up operation at the site so it was fit for the children as young as six who use it every week.

Councillor Gordon Cam-pbell, chairman of Addingham Parish Council, said labelled the vandalism as 'unnecessary'.

He told the Ilkley Gazette: "We expect a little bit of vandalism at this time of year but its just totally unnecessary.

"It was obviously a deliberate act. It was hardly a random or loose fire-work."

Coun David Harrison, (Craven, Conservative) said he too was outraged at the incident.

He said: "We have got an element in Addingham who are totally and utterly irresponsible vandals, who have no respect for anybody or their property or anything.

"A lot of it is down to lack of parental control. They do not know where their children are or what they're up to. It is so pointless. They have not gained anything out of it.

"All they have done is cause someone some expense. They should be hunted down and made to pay for it."

Mrs Doherty, of School Lane, added she hoped the re-opening of Addingham Memorial Hall this week would deter vandalism if more people are passing by.

She appealed for any villagers who see anybody hanging about to contact her on (01943) 831156.

l IN a separate incident, eight windows of the near-by bowling pavilion were also smashed by thugs.