KEEN gardener John Welch was devastated when vandals ruined his garden for the third time.

Mr Welch, 57, of London Road, Chippenham, said his prize begonias were uprooted from his front garden and strewn across the pavement and road overnight last Wednesday.

He said the incident must have happened after 11pm. "I spent an awful lot of time on it and there was a lot of expense involved. It has not happened to anyone else so I don't know why it keeps happening to me," he said.

Mr Welch said he had contacted the police and was told that they would come and see him in the next two or three days.

At first Mr Welch thought he might be able to salvage some of the plants but on further inspection he realised they were beyond repair.

"We couldn't do a thing with them. "We had to put them in the bin," said his mother Sarah Welch, who lives with him. Mrs Welch said her son was not going to replace the plants for a third time.

"He is not going to spend more money for them to pull them out again," she said.

"It could have been children or a drunk or it could have been someone who has spite because we have a nice garden. We just don't know."