THOUSANDS of pounds could be spent on an Ipswich park in a bid to stop it being targeted as a dumping ground for stolen and torched vehicles.Families living near to the Recreation Ground, in the Priory Heath area of Ipswich, say the area is regularly littered with the burnt out shells of stolen vehicles.

THOUSANDS of pounds could be spent on an Ipswich park in a bid to stop it being targeted as a dumping ground for stolen and torched vehicles.

Families living near to the Recreation Ground, in the Priory Heath area of Ipswich, say the area is regularly littered with the burnt out shells of stolen vehicles.

Gangs of tearaway youngsters are being blamed for the problem, but Ipswich borough council today said it hoped to solve it through consulting with residents.

The council has already received a grant of £3,500 from the Countrywide Agency to carry out the consultation process, which has been earmarked for April.

A spokesman for the council said various possibilities for the park are being considered, including putting a fence around the boundary and planting shrubs along it.

It is thought the project as a whole could cost around £150,000, with half of the cost funded through a grant from the Countrywide Agency.

The latest incident of a burnt out being dumped in the park happened on last week when a car was rammed into swings in the park and then set on fire.

One mother in her 30s, who asked not to be named in order to protect her family, lives nearby and captured part of the incident on her digital camera.

She said: "It's happened a lot and there's a lot of worried people around because of it. We expect trouble around here now – people abandoning cars, setting light to trees, damaging property.

"It's very worrying because I've got children and there's a lot of elderly people in this area."

Roy Porter, 46, of Bantoft Terrace, has lived in the area for more than two years and claims the park is used a racetrack by youngsters driving stolen vehicles.

"They keep nicking cars and then racing them around, he said. "They nicked one of my cars about a month ago from outside my mother-in-law's house and then set light to it.

"I won't let my children out. There's too many motorbikes racing around here. The last time my grandson came around he nearly got hit by one."