Vandals cause outrage after throwing benches onto frozen lake in popular Burnley park

Andy Robinson was greeted with the shocking sight of the upturned benches on the lake at Thompson Park as he took his usual morning walk today at around 9am.

Disgusted by the incident he posted a photograph on social media, which prompted an avalance of angry comments from the public, including the leader of Burnley Council Coun. Mark Townsend who said 'this is terrible.'

Other comments described the culprits as 'morons,' 'scum of the earth' and 'idiots.'

Andy said: "I am in the parks at first lights most mornings so I am used to seeing litter and even a bench tipped over but nothing as bad as this."

It is believed the vandals could have been caught on CCTV installed in the park in Omerod Road.

The three benches were among 70 that were single handedly restored by volunteer Steve Pycroft as part of the park's £1.2M restoration in 2018.

Work started on refurbishing the park in December, 2017 and the project was largely funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund following a successful application by Burnley Council, which also contributed £250,000 towards the cost.

Local contractor Rosslee Construction was employed to restore the pavilion and convert the former boathouse into a café which is being run by Burnley Leisure.

The Italian gardens and park bridges were restored along with the original railings and gates on Ormerod Road.

The council’s own greenspaces teamalso constructed an exciting new play area.