A NEW Happy to Talk bench, designed to combat loneliness and isolation, has been trashed by vandals just weeks after it was installed.

The bench was donated to the community of Neyland by Milford Haven School and was installed on the Brunel Trail, Westfield Pill, in July.

A second bench, located on the promenade, was also donated to the town by the school.

The Happy to Talk benches are designed to encourage people to interact if they are lonely or in need of a chat, helping combat loneliness and isolation in communities.

The idea behind it is that anyone that sits on the bench is happy to chat and it creates an opportunity for a conversation to start between strangers who find themselves sharing a common place.

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Mayor of Neyland, councillor Simon Hancock said that he, along with the rest of the community, was shocked and disappointed at the vandalism.

"It has only been there for a matter of weeks," he said.

"It is so disappointing that people would want to damage something like that, that had been provided by the school to facilitate conversation. Something that was a really valuable community facility has been damaged.

"I share the disappointment of everybody in the town that there are people around who would want to damage something like this that has been provided for the whole community?"

Cllr Hancock said that the bench had now been removed from the site and was being repaired by Neyland Men's Shed.

"At least we have got people like the men's shed who have kindly stepped forward to repair the bench," he added.