A COUNCILLOR has expressed his anger and frustration over the "defacement" of parts of Malton and Norton through vandalism and litter tipping.

Over recent days the heads of more than 100 daffodils have been slashed off at a local beauty spot, while the town tidy group has picked up dozens of bags of rubbish from public areas.

Norton Town Councillor Hugh Spencer said he believed the damage to the daffodils had been caused by youngsters.

"Congratulations to you youngsters on your latest exploits around the fields above Scott’s Hill in Norton," he said.

"What you achieved was so outstanding as to merit an entry in a new section of the Guinness Book of records. You must have worked so hard to slash off the heads of about a hundred daffodils, planted by myself in the misguided belief that they might enhance the environment and give some pleasure to the many walkers using the free access kindly offered by the landowner."

Coun Spencer said the daffodils, which were planted 10 years ago, had been in full bloom when they were destroyed.

"These youngsters must have had a wonderfully jolly time during their excursion into the countryside, what with the contents of your plastic bottles and the substances that give you so much pleasure," he said.

"It was quite a spectacular site and in the course of one night they have been destroyed - I cannot understand the mentality of these people."

Norton's Deputy mayor Coun Antony Croser, who is also a member of Malton and Norton Tidy Group, said vandalism, litter and fly tipping appeared to becoming an increasing problem.

"Recently, we saw the Gazette’s headline refer to the abuse of Orchard Fields and Castle Gardens in Malton. To add to the report, earlier this year Malton and Norton Tidy Group collected 18 bags of litter from the area," he said.

"The riverside picnic area and skatepark also get treated with similar contempt. All these areas are there for public use and enjoyment, and equipped with litter bins."

Coun Croser said the problem was not just in areas where youngsters congregate.

"Go out to the verges of the entrance roads around our towns and a similar tale emerges," he said.

"The Tidy Group recently collected 18 bags of litter, plus debris, from York Road in Malton. Just one month later and another 12 bags, plus debris, including a very large glass table top and even a toilet, were collected from the same stretch of road.

"With regards the litter there was the usual fast food packaging, cigarette packets, cans and bottles - much of it thrown from vehicles because the area sees few pedestrians. There was also packaging debris, presumably from the nearby businesses of the industrial estate.

"Further to this, volunteers have litter picked within the industrial estate, including the gateways and surrounds to many of the businesses - why don’t those businesses look after these areas to show a good impression to their visitors?

"A 'green and pleasant land'? Some people are not bothered about defacing it or looking after it. Since the beginning of 2013 Malton and Norton Tidy Group has collected 839 bags of litter.

"If only those members of society who abuse what we have would think about others for a change. In addition I hope the general population realise and appreciate that there are a small number of people across our district volunteering their time to make our communities and our environment more pleasant to live in."