Fears park could be forced to close permanently as a result of the damage

Swings and a roundabout have been fenced off at a Peterborough park after vandals struck for the second time this month.

With children enjoying the final few days of the school holidays, the timing could not be worse for families, as much of Orton Wistow park is now fenced off in a bid to keep children using it safe.

Earlier this month the slide was cut with a saw, and now bolts have been removed from a zip wire, while swings and a roundabout have also been damaged.

Cllr Kirsty Knight at the park which has seen vandals strike on a number of occasions this month

placeholder image — Cllr Kirsty Knight at the park which has seen vandals strike on a number of occasions this month

Now there are fears about the future of the park.

“Residents are disgusted by what has happened"

Orton Waterville councillor Kirsty Knight said she was thinking about using some of her ‘Community Leadership Fund’ (CLF) money to repair the equipment. The CLF is an amount of money given to all councillors for projects in their ward.

However, she said she was concerned about using it on the park – as she was worried the equipment would just get vandalised again.

The damage to the slide caused earlier this month

She said: “Residents are disgusted by what has happened. The park is mainly used by primary school children, and they could have been hurt quite badly as a result of the damage caused.

"It is going to cost thousands of pounds to fix.

"I am thinking of putting my CLF money towards fixing it – but I don’t want to do that if it is just going to get vandalised again.

"The park is only three years old – I worked with the people designing it in 2021 to make sure it was right. Now we are worried about losing it, if it costs too much to repair.”

The slide has been cordoned off since the damage was initially reported earlier this month

When the slide was damaged earlier this month, fellow Orton Waterville councillor Julie Stevenson said: “Although the park remains open with swings and other pieces of equipment for kids to enjoy, parents and carers are understandably feeling anxious that someone would bring what must have been quite a substantial piece of kit to a playground with the intention of causing damage.”

Anger as yobs try to cut through slide in Peterborough children's park with a sa...

“We’ve increased patrols in the area and an investigation is looking at all reasonable lines of enquiry."

A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council said: “We are aware of this incident which has been reported to the police.

“Vandals have damaged a slide which will need to be replaced, a roundabout and swing unit were also damaged. We have been made aware of some damage to one of the multiplay units. At present, we do not have cost for repair work as this is being

finalised.

“The damaged equipment has been made safe and taped off and the park is open as usual.”

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “Further vandalism at Orton Wistow Park has been reported to us and an investigation is ongoing.

“We’ve increased patrols in the area and an investigation is looking at all reasonable lines of enquiry.

“Anyone with information about this criminal damage should contact us.”

Anyone with information should contact police via Cambridgeshire Constabulary's website using reference 35/59772/24. Anyone without internet access should call 101.