A MAN has been left devastated after vandals broke into his allotment and set fire to one of his pigeon lofts, killing 41 young birds.

The arsonists struck late on Saturday night at the gardens off Stanghow Road, New Skelton.

The carnage could have been worse if another allotment owner had not spotted the blaze and managed to release some of Desmond Williams' birds.

"I am absolutely devastated," he said. "I don't know what sort of people would carry out such a senseless attack on my birds.

"It was horrific when I got here, all the young birds had been killed. The bodies of the birds are just laid in the wreck of the shed. I can't bring myself to deal with them yet, it is just too upsetting.

"The shed was completely burnt to the ground because it was well alight, but thankfully it didn't spread into the loft next door. It would have been a lot worse if one of the other allotment holders hadn't let some of my birds escape.

"In total, I have lost 41 birds and I am just doing my best to sort things out. Other pigeon fanciers have been rallying around me already and one guy has offered me some more birds to replace the ones that I have lost."

Skelton Green Pigeon Fanciers have offered a reward in a bid to catch the culprits before they strike at another cree.

Fire crews from Saltburn and Skelton stations attended the burning sheds at 11.30pm on Saturday and it took them 30 minutes to extinguish the flames.

Mr Williams, 47, of Skelton, added: "Youngsters have been chased off the allotments many times in the past couple of weeks. Usually, they just break into the sheds to try and steal rotovators and other equipment, but this is the first time anything like this has happened in the nine years I have been here.

"At first, I wanted to just give it all up because I was so upset, but there is no way I am going to let these people win."