Sir - We have been devastated to find that over the recent half-term holiday, a Field Study Centre, that was built in 1983 for the youngsters of Peers School, who were mostly living in the parishes of Rose Hill, Littlemore and Blackbird Leys, had been vandalised yet again, in spite of being fenced off from an adjacent public footpath.

We built the Jack Peers Centre for these youngsters, so that they could have a chance to come out to and learn about the countryside. This was just a simple hut in the fields, of which about 75 per cent of the physical building work was carried out by the youngsters themselves. The original intention was that this would be a field study centre and so was built adjacent to a footpath, to allow access via a walk across fields for all sorts of reasons this is no longer practical and now a roadway from our farm forms the access.

The building has, over a period of years, lain almost derelict due to continual acts of needless vandalism by those who seem to enjoy destroying other people's property.

Now, recently owing to a greater awareness of those involved, the whole project has been revived.

This incident is doubly devastating as we have always welcomed the general public on to our farm. To this end we have opened about three miles of permissive footpaths allowing a long circular walk from Great Milton, as well as large areas of conservation strips for wildlife.

We were delighted during the recent snow to see people enjoying sledging on the only small hill on the farm. (However it would have been appreciated more if those involved had taken their litter away with them).

Is it any wonder there is antagonism between farmers and footpath walkers and the general public?

Charles Peers, Great Milton