On Sunday, (August 8), Lakeside Healthcare at Yaxley was badly damaged after vandals broke four windows, a CCTV camera and several items of electrical equipment.
The damage was all done to the surgery’s new extension and its opening is now likely to be delayed.
Also, in Yaxley, approximately a five minute walk away on Main Street, Stretton Pre-School also fell victim to vandals. Overnight on Tuesday (August 10) vandals wrecked a large amount of their garden furniture.
A representative from the pre-school said: “Very sadly Stretton Pre-School has been targeted overnight and had some of our outdoor resources smashed beyond repair.
“Our Main Street team are devastated after working so hard to provide a lovely learning environment for children of this community.”
Police have not yet been able to confirm if the two incidents are linked but have appealed for anyone who may have witnessed either of them to come forward.
The vandalism has meant a significant setback to the long term project at Lakeside Healthcare, which has been in the planning since 2015.
Construction began in January after being given permission by the Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England. Once finally completed the surgery will be able to offer a small ground floor lobby, an extended waiting area, two enlarged consulting rooms, three new consulting rooms, two clinical rooms, two treatment rooms and a utility rooms, bringing the total of clinical rooms up to 30, to its roughly 17,000 patients.
Lakeside Healthcare has confirmed that this is not an isolated incident and is a blow to their plans to improve the facilities for the community. It has also asked any one who may have any useful information to contact the police.
A spokesperson for the surgery said: “We are saddened to report a case of vandalism over the weekend which may potentially impact on when we are able to open our new extension.
“Four ground floor windows, a CCTV camera and some other electric equipment were damaged and, although we are working closely with constructors PrinceBuild to source replacements, this may take some time, resulting in delays to our building schedule.
“The police have been informed and we are hoping that they may be able to increase patrols in the vicinity.
“Unfortunately this has not been an isolated incident and such vandalism is inevitably demoralising for the Practice Team and constructors who are working hard to improve facilities for our community.
“If you see any suspicious activity on or around our site please can you report it to police.”
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police added: “We were contacted on 10 August with reports of criminal damage at Lakeside Healthcare in Lansdowne Road, Yaxley.
“At an unknown time on Sunday four windows were smashed.
“Anyone with information is urged to contact police via their web chat service https://bit.ly/3vsiYDw or online forms at www.cambs.police.uk/report quoting 35/52894/21. Anyone without internet access should call 101. Always dial 999 in an emergency.”
