Stamford Skatepark to stay closed despite youngsters breaking and entering

Stamford Skatepark will remain closed even though youngsters continue to break through security fencing to access it.

Members of the town council’s amenities committee voted unanimously to keep the Recreation Ground facility shut during a meeting on Wednesday evening (June 3).

Town clerk Patricia Stuart-Mogg said police tape and then council fencing had both been ripped down by people trying to access the skate park during the coronavirus lockdown.

“They will get in by hook or by crook,” she told committee members.

The mayor, Coin Maxine Couch, agreed saying: “We are talking about youths who will stop at nothing to get in there. Let’s just open it.”

Coun Dave Dorson also initially suggested it could be reopened as lockdown measures have been relaxed and youngsters are entitled to exercise.

National organisation Skateboard England had sent the council guidance suggesting the park could be opened up to 10 people at a time.

But Coun John Dawson said: “The person who wrote that obviously lives on the moon. I’ve never heard anything so daft.”

He said that by opening up the park Stamford Town Council would be leaving itself “wide open” to legal action if any of the youngsters caught Covid-19.

“We have a moral responsibility,” he added.

All committee members then voted in favour of keeping the park closed, as well as the toddler park and public toilets.

It was considered all posed too much of a risk of the virus being spread.

Stamford Skatepark opened in 2013 after a £150,000 fundraising effort.