WEE COUNTY councillors have condemned the shocking acts of vandalism at the former Glenochil Nursery site in a bid to salvage a £2million investment.

As the Advertiser reported last week, an estimated £100,000 worth of damage was inflicted when vandals targeted the site last month.

Walls were knocked down, hundreds of windows were smashed, with crude imagery including Swastikas and a racial slur were painted over parts of the buildings.

Lights were also broken, doors snapped in two, and a disabled toilet smashed to pieces.

Caulders had planned to build a garden centre on the site as part of a £2m investment which would bring more than 30 new jobs to the area.

However, after seeing the scale of the damage, the company’s managing director, Colin Barrie revealed last week that they were now considering pulling the plug on their plans for the Wee County.

He said: "We just never expected so much absolutely mindless vandalism.

"It's just so shocking that folk would do that for no reason – there's no purpose to it.

"I think we're going to stop and think about [our project] now, and just review our situation.

"We would hope that we'd be able to get the confidence to go ahead with it, but it does make you think.

"If we start the build and then have the possibility of that level of damage, it's quite worrying."

In a desperate bid to reassure the company that their investment is safe, the area’s four elected members from Clackmannanshire West released a joint statement claiming the vandalism was an isolated incident.

The statement, in the name of Cllrs Darren Lee, George Matchett, Les Sharp and Tina Murphy, appealed to Caulders chiefs to continue with their commitment to Clacks.

It read: “It was with some dismay that we heard about the vandalism carried out on these premises; it is not an occurrence that is prevalent in and around Menstrie and something we strongly condemn.

“To assuage any fears Caulders may have and to assure them of our continued support we hope to meet with them in the near future to discuss their planned and very welcome investment in our area.”

That statement was welcomed by Mr Barrie, who said: “That sounds fine to me.

“I’m glad to get the support of the local councillors in the area.

“The vandalism that’s taken place is just the latest, there’s been two or three other occurrences on the site and we’re just concerned by it.

“I'd be happy to meet with the councillors to discuss it.”