Popular Leighton Buzzard beauty spot targeted by vandals for second time

Vandals have damaged badger sculptures, wooden benches and trees, just weeks after work was carried out to repair damage caused earlier this year.

Anti-social behaviour at the Leighton Buzzard beauty spot had been branded a disgrace after the area was daubed with graffiti and entrance signposts, benches and the bird hide was damaged.

The area has also attracted litter louts, drug use, out of control dogs and even arsonists, according to Friends of Tiddenfoot Waterside Park.

Greensand Trust Park Ranger Lily, said: “It’s on going issue. We spray painted the bird hide which was covered with graffiti and regularly do litter picks with volunteers now equipped with tools to remove graffiti which takes a lot of scrubbing.

“It’s such a shame as we work so hard to make it nice for everyone but then some visitors ruin it. We have spoken with police and asked if they could patrol the area – especially on Saturday nights to help deter the vandals.”

Litter is the biggest issue at the site with a clearance rota set up to keep on top of the problem. Volunteers report much of the litter is fast food and drinks packaging but also includes cigarettes/vapes plus dog waste as well as more ‘intimate’ items that are picked up. Tiddenfoot Waterside Park is owned by Central Bedfordshire Council but maintained by The Greensand Trust to enhance nature conservation whilst also providing an interesting, educational and varied recreational facility for residents.

A post on its website states: “Fly tipping not usually on a great scale and this is mostly in the road alongside the park. Mostly in the park it tends to be broken and discarded fishing/camping equipment from fishermen.

“Drug taking and, in particular, nitrous oxide use at least is evidenced by containers being left as litter. Our litter pickers regularly find cylinders and disposing of these is a problem that we are still looking for a solution to with CBC.

“Vandalism, mostly tagging on noticeboards and structures. These tags are removed by volunteers in the litter picking team and others where we can. Some damage to seats etc, but this is rarer. A litter bin was set on fire a while ago and still needs replacing. This is fairly frequent. Other than the bin this damage is mostly repaired by volunteers and the GST Ranger.

A spokesperson for Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “Tiddenfoot Waterside Park is a valued community space, and we take incidents of anti-social behaviour seriously. “We are aware of recent vandalism and anti-social behaviour issues and continue to work closely with the Greensand Trust, the Friends of Tiddenfoot and the police to keep the park welcoming and well maintained.

"We are very grateful to the rangers and volunteers for their ongoing efforts, and we encourage visitors to report any incidents so action can be taken quickly. While such behaviour can be difficult to prevent entirely in an open public space, we ask all visitors to treat the park with respect so that it can be enjoyed by the whole community."