Our picturesque seaside town is ruined by thugs – they break windows, graffiti beach huts & smash glass bottles
A PICTURESQUE seaside town is being ruined by thuggish kids who vandalise beach huts and smash glass bottles, residents say.
The unruly teens allegedly wreak havoc on “intimidated” residents in Sandbanks, an affluent suburb in Dorset.
Locals claim to have seen the thugs smashing beach hut windows before dousing them in graffiti, as well as smashing glass bottles on street roads.
Hut owners have also accused the lads of smoking cannabis and inhaling laughing gas during their campaign of vandalism.
Hutter Zin Matthews described her “anger” as the vandals continue to terrorise the neighbourhood.
She said: “There is also a lot of vandalism. A can of paint has been thrown on the wall and windows have been smashed.
“Some of the windows look like Superman has gone ‘kapow’ on them and broken the glass.
“It makes us very angry because we pay a lot of money to stay here, but we want something in place to deter them and stop this.”
Sue Smith similarly questioned why so little was being done to stop the offenders.
“We have had our window smashed, graffiti thrown on the hut and we know it was them because the paint matches the one on the curtains of their hut”, she revealed.
“I’ve felt very intimidated and have got lots of abuse, but I’m cross at the police and council’s lack of interest in this when we report it.
“They need to have a zero-tolerance approach; there are laws saying you can’t ride e-scooters, they should be confiscated.”
It comes after locals saw their rent almost doubled overnight by Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch Council in February – with many saying they are at their wits end as costs soar.
Bob Lister, chairman of the Poole Beach Hut Association, said: “The local council is treating us like cash cows.
“They can’t just increase our rents, pricing many pensioners out of the area, then reduce security measures in the area.
“Years ago the council had a ranger monitoring the beach huts every day.
Some of the windows look like Superman has gone ‘kapow’ on them and broken the glass.
Sandbanks resident
“They say that there is CCTV in the area but it isn’t complete coverage.
“It is clearly not doing enough to put off the gangs who damage the huts and leave litter on the beach.
“The decline of the last few years is horribly clear.
“We need to see change and soon.”
Councillor Kieron Wilson from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council said: “We’re determined to tackle anti-social behaviour. ASB can have a negative impact on the quality of life of our residents and our visitors, and we’re working proactively with the community and agencies to tackle it.
“CCTV is already in place at Shore Rd, and the camera will remain covering this location in the evenings. There are ‘fragile roof’ signs in place to warn people of the dangers of trespassing.
“We continue to work with our partners to conduct patrols and provide advice, but it is important that incidents are reported to the police at the time they are taking place.
A Dorset Police spokesperson said police officers regularly take part in “high visibility foot patrols along Poole’s beaches as part of Operation Sandman, an annual summertime operation”.