A TENNIS club pavilion was razed to the ground after vandals went on the rampage in Wheathampstead village at the weekend.

The timber framed hut in Brocket View playing fields was left in a in a pile of ashes after the blaze ripped through the building. The cost of the damage has been estimated at around £15 000.

Two abandoned cars used by the Wheathampstead Fire Brigade for training exercises were also torched during the vandalism spree in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A police spokesman said both incidents were being treated as arson. Three men wearing dark clothing were seen in the area at the time, but no arrests have yet been made.

Retained firefighters from Wheathampstead were first called to their own station ground in Marford Road at 3.15am following reports of two cars on fire.

Ms Beverley Wykes' home in Granary Close overlooks the fire station yard. She telephoned the police and fire brigade after she was awoken by a blast from the two cars.

She said: "I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I heard this massive bang which sounded like a bomb going-off. I looked out the window and there were two cars on fire with great beams of light and flames coming from them.

It took officers almost an hour to extinguish the fires. As they were finishing off, one of the firefighters Phil Burman noticed flames coming from the playing fields just around the corner and he realised the tennis club pavilion was on fire.

A crew from St Albans were called out to assist at around 4.20am, but both teams were unable to save the building which was well alight.

Tennis Club chairman, Simon White said he was determined the club would carry on despite the extensive damage.

Members of the Wheathampstead Tennis Club were out early on Saturday morning, clearing away some of the charred rubble from the courts so that junior coaching sessions could carry on as normal.

He added: "This is a major inconvenience, but we are unbowed and will continue to carry on as best we can.

"We hope to get the burnt out remains cleared away as quick as possible before getting some sort of temporary building there.

"Then we can start to think about re-building another facility which will be as good if not better than before."

The club's official open day to mark the start of the tennis season also went ahead as planned on Sunday.

The wooden hut which was used as a changing area and store room was built in 1974 with money provided by the parish council.

Wheathampstead Parish Council chairman Neil Clement said he was in discussion with the insurance company about the fire and said a new club would definitely replace the burned out building.