A TEA shop duo's blooming boat bid to brighten up a troubled corner of the town has come under attack from vandals.

Singing Kettle business pair Daren Morris and Brian Yole planted up a boat with flowers, set up hanging baskets and painted a bench on the corner of Higher Street and Smith Street.

Just three days later the vandals launched a late-night attack by painting pink spots over the bench and the hoarding where the flowers had been placed.

Daren and Brian discovered the attack on Sunday morning and they and their staff spent the rest of the day cleaning the paint off the bench and painting over the hoarding.

'Someone decided to be a bit silly and put pink spots all over the seat and the hoarding,' said Brian.

'Luckily it was emulsion so it came off the bench but we had to completely repaint the hoarding.'

He said that he had not reported the incident to the police but warned he would if it happened again.

Daren and Brian, who have run the Singing Kettle tea shop for the last seven years, decided to put their blooming efforts in to brighten up the corner which has been blighted by ugly hoardings since the blaze which wrecked offices, shops and flats in Fairfax Place. The hoardings are still in place three years later while the last of the repair work goes on at what was the Thai restaurant.

The businessmen, along with staff members, carried out the work ahead of the expected visit by Britain in Bloom judges – who will decide whether the town is triumphant in the national competition.

Both Daren and Brian are members of the town's bloom team.

Daren said: 'We had the boat donated by the harbourmaster free of charge. We have painted it and planted it up with flowers to make it look respectable and we have put flower baskets on the hoardings. The corner has been nomansland for years and no one has really bothered with it.

'As soon as the hoardings come down which is likely to be in September you will be able to see the boat from the bottom of the road and it will look really nice.'

The area on the corner of Higher Street has been blighted by hoardings and scaffolding since the huge blaze which wrecked shops, offices and flats in Fairfax Place more than three years ago.

Daren added: 'Brian and I are part of Dartmouth in Bloom and we always put flowers outside the shop but this year we felt we should do a little bit extra.'