Allotment holders are calling on Barnsley Council for better security after plots have been repeatedly targeted by vandals.

Gardener George Andrews, 56, says tenants at the site off George Street, Cudworth, have had greenhouse windows smashed, fences ripped up, produce pulled out of the ground and livestock stolen.

Gardens belonging to Mencap, a learning disability charity, have also been damaged, George said.

"That's just sick," he said. He said the problem has escalated over the past four to five months after Barnsley Council installed a four foot gate to access the gardens.

"We need a substantial gate on the allotment.

"People can just stride over it. It's virtually every weekend, it's a right mess to have to look at it, it's like there's a tornado that goes through."

George, of Wiseley Croft, Grimethorpe, said there are 45 plots on the site and they are owned by Barnsley Council.

He says it costs £70 a year for an allotment and believes the money from tenants could be used to buy a better gate.

But he says the council will not replace it and claimed he had been told they are developing the land for houses.

A council source said there was a proposal for developing land adjacent to the allotments which would affect access and a new, remodelled entrance with better security would be considered.

They said the aluminium gate was of a standard size used and was not any smaller to the wooden one it had replaced.