Volunteers at park devastated by yet another vandal attack

Volunteers at a Bispham Park are devastated by yet another vandal attack on their hut – but they say there is now a suspect and they have passed details on to the police.

Firefighters were called out at 8:54pm on New Year’s Day to a blaze at the community hut at the Moor Park green space in Bispham.

The wooden hut was severely damaged in the incident and will add to more needless expense for the volunteers who help to upkeep the park

The incident came less than a fortnight after another vandal attack on the hut, which itself followed a string of previous incidents at the Blackpool Council-owned park.

Blackpool Councillor Jon Bamborough, a member of the Friends of Moor Park said: “it is so frustrating for the volunteers who give their time and effort to make things better for the community. It’s a real slap in the face.

“The Friends group will now be meeting on Tuesday next week to discuss what to do about this. We may have to look at using a more robust structure.

“There is a nearby brick building which could suit the purpose and we’re going to find out who owns it.

“Another option could be bringing in a shipping container and using that instead.

“No matter what security you have, if someone is determined to vandalise property, it’s hard to prevent something like that.”

However, Cllr Bamborough said that new information had come to light which had been passed onto the police, regarding the identity of a suspect.

He added: “Obviously we can’t say any more at this stage, but the police are aware of this.”

Lancashire Fire and Rescue employed two fire engines, from Blackpool and Bispham, to tackle the blaze.

Firefighters used one hose reel jet to extinguish the fire and were in attendance for approximately one hour.

The hut, which was funded after two years of community fundraising by the Friends of Moor Park group, is intended to provide secure storage for tools and a meeting place for volunteers involved in maintaining and improving the park.

But it has become the repeated target of vandalism since being installed in November and now its future is in doubt.

In the previous incident before Christmas, windows were smashed, doors kicked off their hinges, graffiti sprayed inside, fires lit internally, and water collection pipes ripped from the roof.

Moor Park isn’t the only park to be hit by vandals in recent days. There was an incident in Anchorsholme Park on December 28, when pirate ship-themed play equipment was also set on fire.