Anger at park vandals

Elliot Furniss

VANDALS and litter bugs were today blasted after rubbish - including broken sledges - was dumped in one of the town's most popular parks.

A bench was also torn from its mounting and tossed into a pond by a small minority who had visited Christchurch Park at the weekend.

The park had been transformed into a winter wonderland thanks to the snowfall which covered the town.

But despite the good nature of most of the play going on, a handful ruined it for others.

Pieces of plastic, wood and sledges that were being used to slide down the hill were left at the bottom while some had thrown items including bottles, cans and even a park bench on to the ice covering the park's ponds.

Ray Wand, who lives nearby in Epsom Drive, said that when he walked back through the park yesterday morning he was disgusted with the state in which it had been left.

He said: “We had an absolutely delightful walk into town through the snow from our home on Sunday morning.

“It was only marred by the disgusting state of littering in Christchurch Park following the winter sports activities with rubbish strewn everywhere.

“Vandalism also seems to have taken place with an expensive park bench, among other things, torn from its mountings and deposited in one of the ponds.”

The bottles and items thrown on to the surface of the frozen ponds will end up at the bottom once the ice melts and Mr Wand called for people to put their rubbish in the bins provided - or take it home with them.

He said: “If this is not anti-social behaviour by an inconsiderate minority we don't know what is. Somebody has got to clear this up and indirectly we are all paying for it while the perpetrators get off scot free.

“By all means let's all enjoy the park but please, but why can't we all treat it with respect? The kids were having an absolutely wonderful time snowboarding, skiing and tobogganing but when you get to the bottom there's all this debris.

“It's just not fair on the people who have to clear it up.”