Clearing up somebody else’s mess... again

Let’s face it the Oxney Road area of Peterborough has had more problems than most places in the city. From shootings at the travellers’ site to the scandal of empty homes at Heron Park and from car crashes to flytipping, it’s recent history does not make for pleasant reading not least for the long-suffering residents in the area.

The area is back in the news for the wrong reason again after a spate of car fires turned a field into a scene resembling a war zone.

This is not a new problem – a quick look in our archives reveals car fires in the field dating back to 2009 – but for some reason it seems to have reached epidemic levels just recently.

Not for the first time, the police reaction to this lawless behaviour seems puzzling to say the least.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire constabulary said the police have not bothered to get involved because no crime has been reported even though in the same breath they admit they are aware of what’s happening in Kabul, er sorry Oxney Road!

It sounds like a big copout (literally) to me.

No doubt one reason is that all this non-crime has taken place on private land.

But if the police are aware of it have they checked whether or not any of the cars were stolen? Or perhaps all the cars belonged to people who just wanted to toast some marshmallows. And what about the criminal damage to the land – ie the very serious crime of arson?

Still let’s be positive at least it’s all been cleared upthanks to the generosity of Peterborough Council Tax payers.

Once again the authorities have shown themselves to be either unable or unwilling, or both, to tackle this sort of behaviour which makes ordinary people despair.

Oxney Road has had more problems than most areas of the city, but really these are problems for us all.