Playground temporarily closed after vandals cause hundreds of pounds of damage

A popular children's playground in Clacton has been temporarily closed after vandals caused hundreds of pounds of damage.

Tendring District Council (TDC), which is responsible for the Clacton Leisure Centre play area in Vista Road, has been left counting the cost of repairs following a spate of incidents.

The latest attack, the third in recent weeks, saw vandals rip up safety flooring in a number of spots, while litters bins were broken open and rubbish was left strewn across the play area.

Councillor Mick Barry, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Public Realm, said he was frustrated that money that could otherwise be spent on maintaining parks must instead be spent on repairing damage.

"Vandalism has been an ongoing problem at this playground, which is popular with younger children, for a number of weeks," he said.

"The safety flooring has been repeatedly ripped up, leaving the site unusable.

"The damage is getting more extensive each time, so we are unfortunately having to look at the possibility of installing CCTV at the site.

"We have had to order quite a bit of flooring mix, which arrived on Friday, so we will be looking to repair the play area this week.

"Taxpayers will again be left footing a bill of roughly £500 each time we're forced to repair the flooring.

"These are nothing but mindless acts of vandalism that are preventing young children from being able to enjoy a cherished facility at the very start of the school summer holidays.

"I would urge anyone who spots vandalism or who witnesses suspicious behaviour at our facilities to contact the police."

Witnesses to the incidents are encouraged to report criminal damage directly to Essex Police at www.essex.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/.

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