Landlady’s shock as teen vandals wreck play area at family pub

A SOUTHPORT landlady returned from a break away to discover yobs had trashed the children’s play area of her family pub and thrown fence panels on the railway embankment behind.

On a busy Thursday evening on January 9, a customer discovered the destruction at the Blue Anchor pub on Tithebarn Road at about 6pm.

He went out for a cigarette in the beer garden and disturbed three teenagers, who ran off through a gap in the fence.

The customer then and discovered the broken swings, climbing frame and slide in the play area.

Staff then found three panels that the vandals had ripped from the garden fence strewn on the embankment near the railway lines but no debris had fallen on the tracks.

Landlady Lesley Curtin said: “We were away for a three-night break not far away in a cottage in Ribble Valley and came back to this.”

She added: “I don’t think it would have made much difference us being away, however, as the pub was busy on Thursday evening and the beer garden is well lit.

“It’s just the children’s play area that’s dark in the winter so they’ve obviously taken advantage of that.

“We’ve had trouble before with teenagers coming and sitting in the beer garden and we’ve had to move them on.

“The benches at the front have been smashed up a few times as well.”

Staff at the pub have sealed off the fence for the time being to try to create a barrier between the children’s play area and the railway lines behind.

They say that the play equipment is not likely to be repairable and new equipment will cost the pub at least £1,500, which may mean the play area will not be able to reopen for a while.

Lesley said: “It’s just a shame, we took over the pub about four years ago and wanted to turn it into more of a family pub and then they go and do this to the children’s play area.

“We’ve reported the incident to the police and handed over the CCTV footage so hopefully they can get some leads and some more witnesses may come forward.”

Anyone who has any information regarding the incident is urged to call the independent Crimestoppers charity, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.