Police are hunting for the “mindless vandals” who set fire to equipment in a new play area.

Emergency services were called to a blaze at the play park in Heol Las, North Cornelly, South Wales just before 11pm on Saturday night.

South Wales Police deputy chief constable Richard Lewis branded the people responsible “idiots” and called on anyone who knows what happened to come forward.

In a tweet he said: “It never ceases to amaze me why idiots wreck the facilities in local communities, particularly when money is tight.

“If you know them –  cough them up – they need to understand how communities work – Disgraceful.”

In a separate post on Twitter, South Wales Police in Maesteg told its followers that officers were called to the incident at 22.54pm and
that the “brand new” play area had been “ruined by mindless vandals”.

A spokeswoman for South Wales Fire and Rescue confirmed that a crew from Kenfig Hill fire station had attended the blaze which involved a wooden structure in the park after receiving a call at 10.51pm.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police by calling 101.