At Tuesday night's council meeting, Cllr Mick Scarff showed fellow councillors evidence of vandalism at the village playground.

Play equipment had been targeted, cigarette ends left strewn on the ground, shingle stones spread across the safety surfaces and branches ripped off trees.

"I took half a bucket of shingle away – somebody must have got these stones from somewhere and spread them across the safety surfaces," said Cllr Scarff, who has cleared the playground on several occasions.

"It took well over an hour in order that our youngsters could safely use the play area.

"I was disgusted with the condition it was in. It was absolutely disgraceful."

He said there was also evidence of cannabis being smoked in the playground, which is used by one of Burwell's nursery schools.

Cllr Scarff has contacted the police to ask why patrols cannot be carried out in Burwell later in the evening.

Councillors discussed the possibility of talking to youths to see exactly what can be done to solve the problem.

"I think we have to talk to these people and make them uncomfortable," said Cllr Scarff. "The problem has been getting worse for three years."

Speaking outside the meeting, Cllr Scarff said anti-social behaviour had risen by 50 per cent in the village.

The problem got so bad the topic had been the key focus of the South Neighbourhood Panel for the last three meetings.

He said more than £40,000 had been spent on the playground facilities in the past three years.

"That playground is for two to 12 year olds," he said.

"I don't know why the older kids go there, It's not just the village kids, they seem to come from all over because they think it's a good night out in Burwell."

Members of the council are meeting with police officers in the Westhorpe area of Burwell today in a bid to solve the problem.

Notices are also being put up outside the playground to remind youngsters that they must be under the age of 12 to use the playground.