Southsea Model Village owner deems repeated break-ins ‘beyond a joke’ as three youths spotted on CCTV

Three youths were caught on CCTV entering the site at 6.20pm, only one day after yobs trashed the model village in what owner Mark Wilson called the ‘worst’ spate of vandalism the attraction had seen.

The previous break-in, which occurred at around 4.30am on Sunday, saw three men and a woman vandalising the village and throwing items at each other.

Posted on the Southsea Model Village Facebook group earlier this evening, new video footage of today’s unwanted visitors shows three boys climbing across the model villages’ displays and picking up figurines.

Mark said: ‘I’m just sick of it, I could not believe it. It’s getting ridiculous.’

After the intruders triggered the village’s alarm system, Mark rushed to the site but by the time he got there, the youths had gone.

He added: ‘They’ve kicked a couple of figures over, but my brother’s son set off the alarm on the Ring app and that sent them running away.’

Mark believes that the three boys accessed the site via the Rose Gardens, and that the new eight foot fence erected by the council is not deterring vandals and trespassers from entering the village.

Mark added: ‘They’re all congregating in the Rose Gardens, and then they climb back over the eight foot fence.

‘Something needs to be done to stop them getting into the Rose Gardens, which is how they get into the village. It’s beyond a joke.

‘In ten minutes the place could be smashed up, and this is what we dread.

‘There’s nothing in there to take.’

A post on Southsea Model Village’s Facebook page said: ‘This is now getting beyond a joke, the council have erected a new eight foot fence on our rose garden border but they still get in.

‘The Rose Gardens were locked but were still full of kids, the security at the Rose Garden entrance from the beach needs a major improvement before some breaks in and does some irreparable damage.’

Anyone with information about the vandalism should call police on 101.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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