Police appeal for help as refurbished Scout hut is smashed up by car
BLOW FOR YOUNGSTERS AS HQ BADLY DAMAGED
Police are searching for the driver of a car that crashed into the entrance of the Scout hut in Barwell.
The smash caused major damage to the front doors, leaving one of them broken off its hinges, with part of the wall crumpled.
The incident happened on Friday (March 18), with neighbours woken up by the noise of the car revving its engine before a loud crash, as the vehicle ploughed into the building, on Byron Close.
The car then crashed again and was found abandoned in nearby Earl Shilton.
Officers arrested a 35-year-old man but he has now been released.
A police spokesperson said: “The man arrested was released from custody with no further action and enquiries to identify and locate the driver of the vehicle are continuing.”
Tyreena Smith, who lives on Byron Street, just around the corner from the Scout hut, was woken by the commotion.
She said: “We heard a car, it sounded like they were in a low gear, but really revving it. Then we heard it go past and there was one hell of a bang.
Then we heard it speed off again.” Ms Smith and her husband went out to inspect the damage.
They were concerned to see exposed wiring among the mess, with fire crews called out as well as the police to make safe the location.
A police spokesperson said previously: “Police received a call at 6.30am this morning (18 March) regarding a Vauxhall Astra which had collided with a
Byron Close, Barwell.
Officers attended but the vehicle had driven off before they arrived. The building was unoccupied at the time but sustained substantial damage.
“A further call was received around 7.20am that the same car had crashed at the junction of Jane Street and Mona Street in Earl Shilton and the car was left abandoned.” Fire crews from Hinckley and Market Bosworth, and a technical rescue building in team from Southern station, were called out to make safe the scout hut.
The scouts usually meet at the hut on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and had just started back there two weeks ago after the building was recently fitted with a new floor.
Scout leader Frances Carter said: “It’s awful. We thought, ‘Great, a new start’ and then this happens. “It’s just devastating.”
Barwell Parish Council has offered the scouts the use of Jubilee Hall, which is next door to the scouts hut, for the next two weeks.
In a separate incident in November 2021, vandals attacked the hut, banging on its doors and windows while a group was meeting inside. The yobs also dented and scratched a car parked outside.
The building, next to Radford Park, was targeted several times before then, with all of its windows broken during some of the incidents.