The constituency office of a Reform Senedd member in Port Talbot has been broken into on three separate occasions in less than a week.
Benjamin Hodge Mckenna, MS for Afan Ogwr Rhondda, said he was frustrated at the "tremendous waste of taxpayers' money" which would go into repairing the office.
Extensive damage to the office
Inside the Port Talbot office walls were ripped down, the toilet seat was broken, furniture was destroyed, fire extinguishers were set off, and doors were taken off their hinges and destroyed. On the floor the fire extinguisher had left a dirty trail of dust.
The constituency office had been due to open for business in a couple of weeks but Mr Mckenna said it would have to be delayed following the vandalism.
Police called after suspected smoke
The Senedd member told WalesOnline that around 3.30pm on Thursday, August 13, he was away and received a call that the office had been broken into. Police had been alerted to the incident by local residents who thought they had seen smoke coming out of the building. The 'smoke' turned out to be dust caused by the fire extinguishers which the intruders had set off.
Mr Mckenna said a family member had originally gone to the office to see the damage before he was able to go himself on Monday, August 17. When he returned Mr Mckenna said it was clear the intruders had been back at the property.
Third break-in and police response
Two days later, at around 3.30pm on Wednesday, he received another phone call from the police after the tenants of the downstairs unit alerted them to say they could hear people moving around in the office. The Reform MS said it was subsequently confirmed intruders had been back inside the office for a third time.
Mr Mckenna said steps have now been taken to secure the property. He added: "Obviously I am frustrated at the time and cost incurred by both the police and my office in regard to repairing the site. It's a tremendous waste of taxpayers' money and I would like to see the perpetrators face the full consequences of the law. I am also grateful that this does not appear to be a targeted or politically-motivated incident and I am grateful to South Wales Police for the manner in which they have handled the case so far."
A spokesman from South Wales Police said: "On Monday, August 17, at around 2.20pm officers received a report of a break-in at a commercial premises on Station Road, Port Talbot, wherein furniture has been moved, knocked over, and damaged and fire extinguishers set off. The premises has been made secure and an investigation to identify those responsible is under way."
