A night time security guard with a dog will patrol Stoke Newington’s Clissold Park at night, after mindless thugs smashed windows and painted the walls of the Mansion House - currently being renovated as part of the park’s �9m facelift.

The culprits also sprayed fire extinguishers in the house last Friday, and contractor Mansell which is responsible for security, will foot the bill for the damage.

Local residents reported that “youngsters” had pulled out tables and chairs and were sitting around smoking and drinking afterwards.

Three windows were smashed in the plant machinery room and tags were spray-painted on a catering trailer in a further incident on Sunday May 1.

Hackney Council cabinet member for community services, Cllr Jonathan McShane said: “The restoration of Clissold House is really coming along, so it is a real shame that a group of mindless vandals have broken into the house intent on causing criminal damage.

“We will continue to look at how we can improve security for the house once the work is complete, but unfortunately when people are determined this isn’t always enough.”

Secretary of Clissold Park User Group, John Hudson, said unsupervised children had been playing in the unfinished play area the same evening, and said it was unfortunate the boarding had been taken down in front of the house for landscaping, as it had acted as a deterrent.

“During the day once people are fully using the park, you get this oversight and that usually discourages this behaviour,” he said.

“The issue of the long term security of the park is a long term issue which we are concerned about, and something the council is doing a lot of research and preparation on,” he added.

“There’s no simple answer - you don’t want to turn parks into high security areas but you want to protect what’s in there.”

The mansion house will be complete later this summer.