Elderly left in fear
10:59am Thursday 24th August 2006 in News By Nigel Kerton
CONCERNED: PC Danielle Colley with the two fire extinguishers which were stolen and let off in the Priory Gardens (20514/2)
THE Priory Gardens had to be closed on Tuesday after vandals targeted the area again.
The gardens have been subjected to regular vandalism in recent months, but on Monday things took a more sinister turn when the old people's flats at the Priory were broken into.
The intruders gained access through a window and removed two fire extinguishers. These were taken out into the gardens, where as many as 50 young people had gathered, and one of them was set off.
Now local residents are calling for garden guardians to patrol the area at night.
The gardens were closed on Tuesday morning while police investigators carried out fingerprint tests on the extinguishers.
WPC Danielle Colley said: "If there had been a fire in the Priory and somebody had wanted to use a fire extinguisher they would not have been able to."
It is believed the burglary occurred after 9.30pm when most of the Priory residents had gone to bed.
The next morning empty beer cans and lager bottles littered the gardens, particularly the lawn area immediately in front of the Priory.
The debris the town council staff had to clear away once police had concluded their investigation, included an empty vodka bottle.
One of the Priory residents, who was too afraid to be named, said that as many as 50 youngsters stayed in the gardens after closing time.
She said: "We just don't know what they will get up to next.
"Until now we were always safe in the knowledge that we were alright inside and they were outside in the gardens.
"But after they came into the building on Monday night we no longer feel so safe."
The gardens are locked at dusk by town council staff who have orders to inform everyone they are closing the gardens.
But they have been told it is not their job to ask anyone to leave the gardens to avoid a confrontation.
A 16-year-old youth told the Gazette: "The council chap locked the bottom gate in Figgins Lane, walked up through and said he was locking the top entrance. We stayed where we were.
He said the fire extinguishers must have been removed after he left at about 10pm.
He said because the gates had been locked, he climbed over a wall to get out of the gardens.
Town Mayor Bryan Castle said: "We are in regular discussions with the police about the problem.
"We deplore what has happened at the Priory."
