Hall Leys Park staff were presented with another prestigious Green Flag Award this week, a national accolade for green spaces, but celebrations were ruined following an attack on Friday night.

Workers were faced with a huge tidy-up job on Saturday morning after two flower beds were trashed, plants were ripped out of the ground and a rose arbour and two recycling bins were torched.

It was a mirror attack of the vandalism spree earlier this month when around £6,000 worth of damage was caused to five trees.

Tubs outside Wilkinsons in Imperial Road had also been vandalised and flowers thrown in to the road.

Matlock mayor Steve Flitter said: "It is absolutely disgusting.

"The park looks an absolute picture and people have often commented to me about how brilliant it is then we go and get something like this happening. It is the town's major asset. This damage is just mindless."

Police are now stepping up patrols of the park.

Pc Jon Bewley, of Matlock Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "Tackling this anti-social behaviour is one of our priority profiles.

"It is a significant problem and we are going to have to sit down as a team and work out how to stop it. A lot of money has gone in to the park to create a park that has won awards and it does look lovely.

"It must be heart-breaking for the council workers to come along in the morning and find the flowers have been kicked around."

Pc Bewley said during June and July the skate park was also damaged, bark was slashed from trees planted with heritage lottery cash and there had been around six reports of vandalism in the past fortnight.

A spokesman for Derbyshire Dales District Council, which runs the park, said: "While we deplore the mindless vandalism that happened on Friday night, the district council is absolutely dedicated to keeping the park looking tip-top for local people and visitors, and the damage was quickly put right by four park workers called in on Saturday morning.

"In just three hours the Hall Leys was back to its brilliant best and speedy remedial work such as this is just one of the reasons this park is rated as one of the best in the United Kingdom."

Despite the setback, park staff are still flying the Green Flag this week - after picking up the top award for the third year running.

Hall Leys was judged on a variety of criteria, including cleanliness, maintenance and community involvement.