Families today spoke of their anguish and anger after repeated vandal attacks on children's graves at a Bradford cemetery.

Sally Aveyard was left devastated after vandals ripped an angel out of its concrete base and stole the ornament next to her three-and-a-half year-old son's grave.

And distraught dad Trevor Tiler, who last year mounted a nightly watch for four months to protect his baby son Luke's grave, said he was prepared to give up his job as a security guard to repeat the vigil to stop the attacks, which he condemned as "absolutely sick".

Today, Bradford Council's park rangers and the police vowed to step up their patrols after the latest wave of attacks in the children's graveyard at Scholemoor Cemetery.

Mrs Aveyard, 25, of Low Moor, Bradford, said she burst into tears when she discovered the angel had gone from the grave of her son Sam who died of meningitis in 1998.

She said the grave had been vandalised six times in the past 18 months including nail varnish being poured over the £1,000 headstone.

"My mum and dad normally pop up to check Sam's grave on a Sunday but they couldn't make it so I went instead," she said.

"It was just devastating to find his grave in such a state again. The angel had been taken once before so we cemented it in but it's been stolen for good now.

"I've complained to Bradford Council which runs the cemetery but it just says it will increase the patrols which is no good to anyone."

Last year Mr Tiler, 48, of West Road, Wilsden, kept a nightly vigil in the same cemetery at the grave of his baby son Luke after thieves looted teddies and figurines and ripped up flowers.

The attacks temporarily stopped but so far this year his son's grave has been attacked three times.

Mr Tiler, a security guard at Leeds-Bradford International Airport, said: "It's absolutely sick. When I was young you'd never even go near a graveyard, let alone play in one or vandalise it. This vandalism is just desecrating the memory of the children in the cemetery."

Ward Councillor Syd Collard (Lab, Great Horton) said: "There is an acute problem with vandalism in the whole of the cemetery. I find it horrendous that they are targeting the children's graves.

"The council's cemeteries' department should take appropriate action but it's very difficult to know who the perpetrators are and also to catch them in the act.

"It is up to the local authority to take some active steps but it is a difficult one to tackle because the cemetery is such a big place. Anything that can be done should be done to prevent these attacks."

Inspector Andy Williams, of Toller Lane Police, said he was aware of the attacks and police foot and vehicle patrols had been stepped up in the cemetery but the bulk of the responsibility lay with the council.

A Bradford Council Cemeteries spokesman said: "The park rangers, who already make an average of six random visits to Scholemoor Cemetery every 24 hours, have been asked to make extra patrols.

"This and all previous incidents of vandalism to this grave have been reported to the police.

"Bereaved parents like to place toys and ornaments on their children's graves, but unfortunately they act as a magnet to other children who sometimes steal or break them.

"Sadly, these young people do not seem to have respect for the dead or any understanding or the grief they cause to parents who have lost a child.

"We would appeal to anyone who witnesses any acts of vandalism in Bradford's cemeteries to report them immediately to the police or the area office at Scholemoor Cemetery on (01274) 751313."

The council spokesman added that to protect the 24 cemeteries in the Bradford district with closed circuit television cameras would be enormously expensive.