AN angry councillor has expressed outrage over a senseless act of vandalism on two bus shelters at Warrington.
Cllr Geoff Settle was furious when he saw the damage inflicted on the shelters on Harpers Road, Longbarn.
He said: “As a regular bus user I am always astounded when I pass yet another smashed window in a bus shelter – don’t these idiots realise that people rely on the bus service and the protection from the weather that the shelters provide?”
Cllr Settle said new seats had recently been installed in the shelters. It had taken 18 months working with the community and the company which provides the shelters.
The seats were damaged by people standing on them – but at the start of the New Year a window was smashed in each shelter.
“It was an act of senseless vandalism, presumably by a reveller on the way home from a New Year’s Eve party.
“This is a huge disappointment especially with so many positive changes that have taken place to facilitate greater access to the bus stops such as a new stretch of pavement with dropped kerbs and pedestrian crossing.
“There was glass everywhere and all over the brand new seats. To watch people arriving at the bus stop the day afterwards and not be able to use the seats or the shelter because of the glass was very annoying.
“I hope that whoever did this thinks long and hard about their stupidity and that anyone who knows anything will contact the police or myself.”
The police can be contact on 101 or the anonymous Crimestoppers hotline, 0800 555 111. Cllr Settle can be contact at 01925 823603.
Pictured: the vandalised bus shelters
Fury over bus shelter vandals
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About Author
Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
9 Comments
Stop using Safety Glass?
With our laws and regulations the cretins who deliberately trashed the shelters would more than likely be able to claim compensation for any injuries they “suffered” when vandalizing shelters without safety glass.
Geoff Settle is right to be indignant at such mindless acts of vandalism, we all should be outraged by it.
Surely you can only be astounded once rather than every time..
Wake up, this happens on a weekly basis it’s not two incidents.
This sort of mindless vandalism might happen on a weekly or even a daily basis but that does and should not make it be considered as ‘acceptable’, or just shrug our shoulders with a grin an bare it response. I’m with Geoff Settle on this it is hugely disppointing we still have idiots who take some sort of warped delight in wrecking something just for the hell of it.
I agree,,, these sort of people are complete idiots and need to be stopped. But like Paul Taylor says maybeit would be an idea to stop using safety glass and use strong perspex or a similar type of non smashable substrate.
The bus company can add CCTV cameras to every bus shelter and use the data links currently in place to transmit images back to the main control room in town. It would only take a few “proper” cameras and a few convictions (along with a few CCTV warning signs) to catch these idiots in the act. Once caught they should then be named and shamed and made to do community work for the next ten years…. Lets have some action on this because it happens all over town….
Totally unacceptable! Whoever did this should be made to pay for the repairs. Why should the rest of us pay from our Taxes? It is, indeed, disappointing that this prevents, in the short term, the useage by the elderly and infirm who rely on our buses to get about. Is there not another product that can be used to repair these glass panels to prevent this happening again?
Don’t imply I was saying this was acceptable. I have done more to stop these acts than probably every person who has read this article as I confront vandals in the act, while most just sit on thier backsides saying something should be done after the event.