VANDALS have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to much-loved basketball courts in the Easter holidays.
There are fears that groups may be firing catapults in Malvern after basketball hoops were seriously damaged.
The basketball courts in Victoria Park were put out of action over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend after the backboards in the basketball courts were shattered.
While the facility has since reopened, the hoops on one end of each court are out of use.
Linda Blake, clerk and Malvern Town Council, said it was the second time the courts had been vandalised since they opened in 2021 and said it was a “shame” to see them out of action during the busy Easter holidays.
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“One backboard absolutely shattered and one was seriously damaged,” she said during a full council meeting.
“This is the second time it’s happened in a period of years.
“I did get a good response from the police but it is a bit of a shame that in peak Easter holidays, there isn’t one workable court.”
Ms Blake said that the equipment is insured but estimated that the repair costs could be thousands of pounds.
“We are looking for something else that we can use that is less likely to shatter but we have to stick to a certain standard,” she said.
PCSO Collette Carpenter was in attendance at the meeting and said police in Malvern had investigated the incident but that they has been unable to find the culprits.
“We’ve done as much as we can,” she said.
“There’s no CCTV, no ring doorbell footage. We’ve spoken to the café and people in park and we’ve got no information at all.”
Some councillors believed that steel pellets and catapults may have been used to cause the damage.
PCSO Carpenter said there had been reports of teenagers using catapults last year.
“We had it last year,” she said. “They were catapulting street lamps. We did ID teenagers and it stopped. Whether it’s them again, we don’t know.
“If loads of people are having problems and we don’t know, we can’t do anything.”
Mayor Marilyn Birks urged anyone who experiences issues to report it to the police.
“I was talking to our operations team and they said there is a pattern with lighter nights and holiday time,” she said.
“Please let the police know. After all, people do want to feel safe in their communities.”
