DORKING: 'Vandal concerns being ignored'

'Vandal concerns being ignored'


ANTISOCIAL behaviour at a multi-storey car park in Dorking is on the increase, residents have complained.

People in Church Gardens say they are fed up with gangs of youths smashing bottles and spraying graffiti on walls in St Martin's Walk car park.

The vandalism has been on-going at the site for years, with youths blamed for racing cars through the car park, dumping trolleys and constant attacks on the ticket machine.

But residents in nearby Church Gardens flats have complained not enough is being done to stop the anti-social behaviour.

They have called for a raft of crime prevention measures including more police patrols and CCTV,to no avail.

Keith Falconer, of Church Gardens, said: "It is starting to creep back again.

"There is a lot of glass being broken down there where people have been smashing bottles. It is the drinking that starts it.

"The kids hide when the police come down but they just come back again when they are gone."

The rise in disturbances follows the decision by Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) to remove a cash box from the car park ticket machine in the lowest underground level last month.

The council said the machine had been frequently targeted by vandals and had been set alight, had glue squirted into coin slots, and damaged with a fire extinguisher.

Stuart Clark, MVDC parking manager,said: "We took a few parts of it to service but it has been vandalised consistently.

"It started off with powder from fire extinguishers being squirted at it, it has been frequently set on fire and vandalised in various ways so we decided that we were not going to respond to that any more.

There are relatively few cars parked there during the day so we took it away.

"On that particular level you don't get people parking and the other reason is that it is furthest away.

"The people that park there, particularly the older people, prefer to park nearer the shops."

Mr Clark said the council was looking into using anti-graffiti paint on the car park walls, but he said other crime prevention were needed to stamp out the vandalism.

"It is a serious concern that has been going on for quite a while," he admitted.

We are talking about youths congregating and having some sort of social club down there.

There are some behavioural problems which police are monitoring but it is very difficult to stop without CCTV and unless the police go down there every hour it is very difficult to stop.

"It has stopped to some extent because the machine was the object of most of the vandalism. We are monitoring the situation."

It is believed any costly crime prevention measures are likely to be put on hold until the future of the site, which is part owned by Thornfield and MVDC,is decided.

In September last year Church Gardens residents received a letter from Dorking neighbourhood officer PC Lisa Wells stating changes were needed to alleviate the vandalism.

But, the letter said, this was unlikely because authorities could not invest in long-term crime reduction initiatives if there was a possibility the site could be re-developed.

Following a neighbourhood panel meeting the issue of vandalism in St Martin's Walk has formed a priority for Mole Valley's Safer Neighbourhood Team.

Neighbourhood specialist officer, PC Michelino Vaccaro, and Police Community Support Officers Clive Hudson and Kim Boichat are regular-ly said to patrol the area.

PC Vaccaro and his team have confiscated alcohol from teenagers and arrests have been made in relation to criminal damage to the car park ticket machine and graffiti.

PC Vaccaro said: "Members of the community should be reassured that Surrey Police is listening to their concerns and working with partners to address the issues."

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