PROBLEMS of vandalism and anti-social behaviour in Okehampton’s Simmons Park have escalated so much that park staff no longer want to work there, Okehampton town councillors were told this week.

The park, which was voted as one of the top parks in South West, has been the subject of petty crime for months with acts being carried out by the same group of youths, according to the town council.

There have been reports of up to 20 youths congregating in the park in the late afternoon, when most of the damage occurs.

Bottles have been smashed, play equipment tampered with, assaults have taken place, one on park-keeper James McGahey, and stones and bolders unearthed and thrown on pathways. A bottle was even thrown at an elderly walking her dog.

Speaking at the town council’s parks committee meeting on Tuesday night Mr McGahey told councillors that it was getting to a point where certain members of his staff did not want to work in areas of the park that were targeted.

‘I have to plan a day where we work in different areas because my staff don’t want to work where the kids are,’ he said.

‘Anti social behaviour is still a major issue with a certain group of youths in the park.

‘I have asked the police to patrol the park at 3pm. Coming in at 10pm is absolutely ridiculous but at the moment it seems the police do not want to come in at the times when we have issues.’

In June three park staff were fitted with body-worn cameras, funded to the tune of £575 by Okehampton Town Council, in an effort to deter anti social behaviour but Mr McGahey said the culprits were now doing the damage once their backs were turned and so there was no video evidence.

‘There doesn’t seem to be anything we can do. It’s not a simple case of banning them from the park because then they would just go and do the same thing at the skatepark. It’s just shifting the problem to another area.’

He added that a £30 fine, ordered by a youth court for an incident of vandalism in the town and reported in last week’s Times, was not going to stop the vandals.

Mayor of Okehampton Julie Yelland said what was happening in the park was ‘completely and totally unacceptable’

‘It is just not acceptable that our staff have to go through this and the police are not taking any steps to resolve the situation,’ she said.

‘As a council we have done all we can, CCTV (due to be installed next month) and bodycams. These people have absolutely no respect for the law or the community.’

Councillors said they would be pressing the police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez again, even though she said the problems should be dealt with on a local level.

Councillors said they understood the pressure the police were under having three police officers to cover Okehampton, the surrounding area and the A30 but these issues ‘needed to be addressed.’

Members suggested approaching the Community Safety Partnership, which included an anti social behaviour order (ASBO) officer, Okehampton Matters community group and Devon County Council youth services to try and find a solution.