Ilkley in Bloom's bid for spring floral glory has been dealt a serious blow by vandals.

The group is taking urgent action after having all five of its flower boxes at the bus station attacked.

The 'barrier boxes', which were attached to railings opposite the Town Hall, were overturned and had their contents tipped out on Sunday night.

With thee spring judging due to begin within a fortnight, Ilkley In Bloom chairman Tony Gilroy said the timing couldn't have been worse.

"We've been looking after the boxes with loving care," he said, "but someone's obviously thought it would be good fun to cause a bit of mayhem.

"We've had one or two tipped over before but never all five, so we're going to have to go back and re-plant them, which will take quite a bit of work.

"Some of the plants will have to be replaced, which will cost us, and with judging so close we could well have done without this," said Mr Gilroy.

The vandals struck just hours after around 16 volunteers had turned out to help the group give the town centre a spring clean.

More than 30 bags of rubbish were collected during the tidy-up, with those taking part rewarded with a free cup of coffee from staff at Bettys Tea Shop.

Mr Gilroy said: "The clean-up went very well and it's just a pity that this mindless attack detracted from the day.

"We are hopeful that Metro's CCTV cameras have caught images of the culprits, and would urge people to stay vigilant and to call the police if they see anybody damaging a floral decoration."