Thieves stole equipment which was being used to build a new children’s playground, putting plans on hold for a second time.

The Harefield village green play area was in the middle of a £50,000 makeover when a digger and a dumper were stolen from the site, between Wednesday, April 16 and Thursday, April 17.

Workers from contractor Playdale, of Cumbria, turned up at the site on April 17 to discover the essential pieces of equipment were missing.

They did as much work as they could that day, but were restricted as to what they could do, according to the council.

“It’s really annoying,” said Harefield councillor Henry Higgins (Conservative).

“We try to do the best and then some person comes along and ruins it. It’s really sad. We need to name and shame these people.”

Hillingdon police are investigating the incident.

“There’s CCTV in High Street but I don’t think it looks over [the green],” added Mr Higgins.

Contractors were back on site on Friday last week and work is estimated to be completed in seven to eight days, meaning the project should be complete by next week.

The council had hoped the refurbishment would be complete by the Easter school holidays, but bad weather had delayed plans.

Jean Palmer, deputy chief executive and corporate director of residents services at the council, said: “We were disappointed to hear that the equipment had been stolen causing some delay to the completion of the playground, which many residents are looking forward to using.”

She is urging anyone with any information on this theft to call the police by dialling 101.

The work began in March after funds were secured through the Chrysalis scheme’s People’s Choice Award, part of Hillingdon Council’s Feel PROUD campaign.

People voted for one of five projects they wanted to benefit from the funding.

The Harefield playground gained the most, with a record 5,000 people voting for it.