Yobs wreck play park in blazeA CHILDREN'S play park has been destroyed by fire-raisers only months after a nearby pavilion was wrecked in a similar attack.
Play equipment has been ruined after vandals started the blaze at Liberton Park on Sunday night.
One witness described seeing teenage vandals pour petrol or some other flammable liquid over the various pieces of play equipment before setting it alight.
A set of swings, a climbing frame and a plastic slide were among the items destroyed.
Angry parents said the park has been plagued by problems for months and they had asked police to do something about the youths who gather there.
One mother, who did not want to be named for fear of possible reprisals, told how she saw the fire being started.
She said: "I saw what looked like petrol bring thrown about but it wasn't very clear and I ran to the phone.
"My children don't even want to live here anymore now this has happened.
"It really frightens them to see things like this. When the pavilion went up, smoke filled people's houses and that was terrifying enough for them, and now their park has been taken away, it's even worse.
"It was never the best play park, it only had a few things in it, but obviously a mix of wood, plastic, graffiti and the petrol being poured over it has caused it all to catch flames."
Another mother, who was also too afraid to be named, added: "As soon as night falls that place turns into a den for drink and drugs.
"We had the fire at the pavilion in May, and since then one of my neighbour's hedges has been set on fire, and now this.
"You can't go into the park during the day because the place is covered in broken glass and everything else. We have to go to the Meadows instead because it's the nearest safe place for our children to play.
"This is actually a nice part round here apart from the park. It is something we have complained about to police and to politicians for ages because we knew something like this would happen.
"What's it going to be next before our complaints are taken seriously?"
Arsonists burned down the changing rooms belonging to Liberton United FC after setting paper alight at the back of the building in the early hours of a May morning, which soon led to the entire timber structure going up in flames
It took fire crews almost two hours to get it under control.
Liberton/Gilmerton councillor Ian Murray said: "Some time ago the pavilion there was burned down and that was an act of vandalism so it would appear there is an ongoing problem.
"There is an issue here which I will be taking up with police. It's very distressing that this should happen."
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire Service said: "There was a call at around 7.45pm on Sunday about a fire in a play park. There was a large plume of black smoke which resulted in a further seven calls."
http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1574452007
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