National Trust park targeted by ‘extreme vandalism’

THE National Trust has been left with a bill of hundreds of thousands of pounds to repair a bridge after one of its finest country parks was repeatedly targeted by acts of “extreme vandalism”.

Staff at Clumber Park, Notts, visited by thousands of people each year, fear someone with a grudge against the trust may have been responsible.

In one attack, a car was apparently driven at speed into a 250-year-old Grade II listed stone bridge, leaving it severely damaged.

That was followed nine days later, on March 12, by an arson attack on the Bunk House, an accommodation block in the park, forcing eight people to flee. A National Trust van was set alight at around the same time. Yesterday, firefighters were called to tackle a fire in the forest in Clumber Park.

A National Trust spokesman said: “Detectives at Nottinghamshire Police are investigating the bridge vandalism and Bunk House fire … They arrested a man in connection to both incidents who was subsequently released on bail. This is an ongoing investigation.”