MORE than £100,000 has been spent on a skate park for Ipswich – but for some youngsters it seems it is not enough.A group of youngsters have made their own rival park by digging up part of a recreation ground on the Chantry estate.

By Jessica Nicholls

MORE than £100,000 has been spent on a skate park for Ipswich – but for some youngsters it seems it is not enough.

A group of youngsters have made their own rival park by digging up part of a recreation ground on the Chantry estate.

Ramps to be used for BMX jumps have been carefully carved out of the ground on the corner of Robin Drive with the unwanted turf placed at the end of the trench.

But Chantry man, Malcolm Varley, was horrified when he saw a group of youngsters ploughing up the ground near his home to create the jumps for their bikes.

He claims the land has now been virtually destroyed by the gang.

Mr Varley, who lives on London Road was out walking with his wife Barbara over Easter when he spotted the youths aged around 13-15 years old, with spades and rakes.

He said: "When I asked them what they thought they were doing they just laughed at me. We carried on walking and came back that way and by that time they had dug the entire area out and put ramps there."

The 57-year-old said he was disappointed that some of the youngsters had taken this alternative route for a recreational area, despite the skate park being in full use.

He said: "It makes me feel terrible in as much that we have got wonderful facilities in Ipswich. They are being upgraded all the time and we have some of the most beautiful parks."

Mr Varley has lived in the Chantry area for 34 years and for the last 18 months has been involved in the Chantry Housing Forum.

He said: "We have spent a fortune on trying to make the area nice for people to live in.

"We have spent hours every year on Anti-Social behaviour, but it is like banging our heads against a brick wall."

The land belongs to the borough council and Mr Varley said he would be getting in touch with them in an effort to get this current situation sorted out.