VANDALS have blighted a York woman's beautiful ornamental garden - by stealing and smashing Bill and Ben, the Flowerpot Men.

For years, Christine Metcalfe's ornamental animals and characters have delighted young and old, from their perch outside her home, on the side of Osbaldwick Beck.

But the Flowerpot Men, along with a rabbit, a frog and a snail, disappeared from the garden last week.

Christine later discovered Bill's head lying smashed in the beck, and was told that his body had been shoved through the windscreen of a car in nearby Tranby Avenue.

She has heard reports that Ben's remains have been seen in the beck, further down towards the city centre.

"It's disheartening," she said.

"The children loved to come and see my animals, and Bill and Ben, and they were especially popular in the summer. Bill and Ben looked out over the garden, the frog and the rabbit were fishing in the beck, and the snail sat on top of a toadstool. I'd open the garden for charity, and invite youngsters in to see them. Sometimes I'd change them around and hide them, so the children could find them again."

Christine, 52, has dedicated herself to her garden, and to selling flowers, for the past 15 years. She made the Flowerpot Men out of plant pots two years ago, and rooted them in sand, so that, in theory, they would be difficult to remove.

Among her other creations was a group of happy gnomes, who were spotted waiting at a nearby bus stop recently.

Christine has now placed signs in her garden, apologising to the youngsters for the loss, and says she is determined to find the remains of her little friends.

"Even though I can't repair them, the idea of them lying in a beck, or through someone's window, is terrible," she added. "I won't leave them there."

Christine said she would make replacements for the lost items.

"The only happy thing is that they left me with Little Weed. I don't know why they weren't interested in her. She's lonely now, so I will make a new Bill and Ben."

Updated: 11:33 Wednesday, March 13, 2002