Heartless "idiots" have torn down the Christmas lights at a Greenhithe housing development.

The 1,400 white lights had been used to decorate Ingress Park’s first ever Christmas tree outside Ingress Abbey.

The six metre tree was gifted by developers Crest Nicholson and was festooned with four reels of lights costing £150.

But residents awoke on New Year’s Eve to find that vandals had ripped them from the branches, pulled them apart and rendered them useless.

One stretch was dragged all the way down nearby Prioress Crescent and abandoned in the middle of the road.

The lights had been paid for by Dartford Council and were switched on on December 7 at a gathering attended by 600 people.

Greenhithe ward councillor David Mote helped put up the lights, but had to spend his New Year’s Eve morning clearing them away ready for the tip.

He told News Shopper: "It’s very sad that someone should come along and rip them down.

"It’s certainly not put me off doing it again next year.

"I will not let some idiots stop us."