THIEVES have broken into Portskewett and Sudbrook Village Hall, stealing equipment worth £1,500 and causing more than £1,000 worth of damage.

Also stolen was £350 worth of prizes which were to be used in the annual military whist drive night this evening and around £300 in cash from the Bluebell nursery, who also use the building.

Greta Edwards, hall caretaker, says the thieves, who entered the hall via the rear doors, broke all the internal doors in the building, causing more than £1,000 in damage, as well as completely trashing the place.

She said: "They have totally ransacked the place. They emptied cupboards and threw a lot of their contents all over the floor.

"One of the cupboards was almost full of prizes for the whist drive night, which included bottles of whisky. We had also been making a collection of toys for the women's refuge.

"There are going to be a lot of disappointed people. "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get hold of everyone to let them know what has happened.

"They are senior citizens who have worked hard all their lives, only to have something awful like this happen to them."

The hall is the hub of the community and is also used by several other local organisations, such as judo, art classes, choir, drama and bingo. Mrs Edwards continued: "The hall isn't just used for Portskewett, they come from areas across Monmouthshire for events.

"I would like to appeal to parents of all teenagers that if they see anything that wasn't in their children's bedroom before and they are unsure where they have got them to contact us or the police."

Rowland Edwards, hall secretary, said: ""We are a charity, we rely on people using the hall. We have been running the whist nights for the past ten years, the money raised is used to keep the hall going. Now all the prizes have been stolen and we are out of pocket."

Anyone who could help make last minute prize donations should contact Greta and Rowland Edwards on 01291 422567.

Anyone with information on the burglary should contact Caldicot Police, or Gwent Police headquarters on 01633 838111.