VANDALS caused £1,000 worth of damage to floral displays in Chepstow - hours after the sites had been shown on GMTV.

Town mayor Yvonne Havard, who condemned the vandals as "mindless", said the flowers which were tipped into the River Wye from containers placed on the bridge had been planted just hours before.

She said: "GMTV came to Chepstow on Friday morning to film their weather forecast, so the floral displays were placed there just before they arrived.

"By coincidence the two places that were filmed - the old Wye bridge and Cormeilles Square - were the two places targeted by the vandals late Friday night.

"The town council have spent thousands of pounds on our floral displays in the hope of winning Wales In Bloom as we came second to Tenby last year.

"We can't say who was responsible but whoever did it is mindless and shows a lack of civic pride. We were doing this for the community, we want our town to prosper."

Town clerk Sandra Bushell estimated it will cost around £1,000 to replace the plants which have been destroyed. She added: "Straight after the programme was broadcast the tourist information centre had a number of calls from people wanting to stay in Chepstow."

Councillor Cliff Meredith, a member of Monmouthshire county council, said: "I don't think it was done by anyone from Chepstow because they take a pride in their town. I think it was people from outside, drinking here on Friday night."

PC Dawn Chown said police were investigating the damage and were examining CCTV footage to see if they could identify the culprits. She asked if anyone with information would contact her on 01291 623993.

She confirmed that ten troughs on the Wye bridge and three tubs in Cormeilles Square were vandalised.