GARDENERS are near the end of their tether because of youngsters rampaging through their allotment, leaving a trail of devastation behind them.

The ongoing problem has escalated over the past three weeks on the Dartford Road allotment, as 11 to 16-year-olds have uprooted vegetables and scattered them across some of the 115 plots.

The youths have broken into and knocked down sheds. Some gardeners have complained the youths have also dumped stolen goods, like bananas and crisp packets, from the nearby Tesco Metro.

John Stone, 53, of Dartford Road, says he is not the only gardener who has had onions pulled up and bamboo structures for his tomato plants scattered across the plots. Two of his sheds have been broken into twice since February but nothing was taken.

“It’s just mindless vandalism. It’s so frustrating because you do all that work and then you find it destroyed for senseless reasons,” he said.

Keen gardener Barry Palmer, 58, of Dartford Road, spent most of last week on his plot to prevent it from being damaged again because he says most of the youngsters run off when gardeners are around.

Councillor Trevor Rogers, whose vegetable patch has also been targeted, said: “It’s getting worse and worse. They generally run all over the plants and trample over everything. It’s just getting ridiculous.” He says stolen bags of crisps and a box of bananas from nearby Tesco have been strewn over the plots but store staff are not taking the problem seriously.

He is going to write to Tesco’s headquarters and has also written to Area Commander Superintendent Martin Hewitt to address the problem.

But north Kent police says only one incident has been reported and has urged gardeners to notify them so they can take action.

One gardener, who wished to remain anonymous, said youngsters normally target the allotment at this time of year, due to the warm weather and schools being closed.