Broken glass is superglued inside children's play equipment at Gosport park

The scene was discovered yesterday afternoon inside a metal spinning bowl, which children sit it, and reported by dad-of-three Dean Freeman, who labelled the act ‘disgusting’.

Bus driver Dean visited the play area at Rowner Copse, off The Spinney, at 4pm with his two daughters – Jorja, 11, and Jaycee, three – and his wife Rebecca.

Dean, 32, who lives nearby, said: ‘We went to the park and my eldest daughter noticed it. We were so lucky that my youngest daughter had not got there first, as she is visually impaired, so she would’ve climbed in and really hurt herself.

‘I rang the council straight away and they sent someone immediately out. But it is terrible.’

Dean took photos of the equipment and the glass and posted them to Facebook to warn others.

He said: ‘Looking through all the comments, this is not the only time it has happened. I am shocked.

‘It is quite a small park, we only live over the road from it, and it keeps the kids happy. It wears them out and helps them sleep better when they’ve been playing there.

‘It is just nice to spend some family time together there, but this has spoiled it. We will be more careful in future.

‘I don’t want to see any children getting hurt. They have been stuck indoors for so long with lockdown, and they have waited for so long for a bit of sunshine, it is such a shame that someone has tried to ruin that - and a shame to not be able to take them there.’

This latest incident follows a spate of anti-social behaviour in Gosport which has seen graves desecrated and streets vandalised.

Gosport Borough Council said it acted quickly to clear up the glass and urged others to report any incidents.

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Stevyn Ricketts, head of Streetscene at Gosport Borough Council, said: ‘When we received this report, we sent a team straight down to the park to remove the broken glass and restore and clean the play equipment.

‘We also reported the incident to the police. We've not had any reports of similar incidents elsewhere, but I would urge anyone who has concerns to report it immediately to Streetscene on 08000 198598.

‘All our play areas are inspected weekly and regular cleaning and maintenance work is carried by our parks team - this increases in frequency over the spring and summer months when parks are at their busiest. We want to ensure that families and children can enjoy these facilities safely.’

Hampshire Constabulary said it had made its neighbourhood teams away of the incident and urged others to report incidents to the council and to the police.

A spokesman said: ‘If you witness anyone acting suspiciously in this area then please report this to police on 101.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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