VANDALISM is hampering a community council’s ability to make improvements to a well-used village play area and park.

Concerns about damage to Johnston park were raised at the community’s PACT meeting with the local police force on Thursday, September 14, as during the summer vandals cut away parts of the padded flooring in the park and rendered swings unsafe by cutting the front facing bar that secure toddlers.

Temporary repairs have been carried out to the padded floor and the swings have been removed for now.

The cost of full repairs is unknown, but damage to a wooden fence and soundproof membrane at the skate park in 2015 accrued a bill of more than £4,000.

“It is a sheer act of vandalism,” said county councillor Ken Rowlands, who also sits on Johnston community council.

The park was designed with different age ranges in mind, and is split it into areas for toddlers, children, and teenagers.

A planned fourth area was a shelter for teenagers and pre-teens with a solar panel in the building which would power a speaker tuned to Radio 1.

“We want to do the fourth area but we are forever repairing and it is entirely down to vandalism,” said Cllr Rowlands, who added the identity of the vandals is unknown.

The park was also discussed at the community council meeting on Monday, September 11, where it was decided an assessment should be carried out into the cost of repairing the damage and whether it would be possible to install CCTV in the park.

The Milford policing team now plans to make extra patrols of the park during evenings and weekends to deter further vandalism.

Residents can contact the Milford rural policing team on 101 with any information about incidents in the area.