'No fires' means NO FIRES!

Reporter: Alex Carey
Date published: 09 June 2016


LITTER louts continue to hit Dovestone as revellers once again lit barbecues in a memorial garden, with one young boy caught kicking rubbish into the picturesque moorland.

A resident took pictures of a family using the Life for a Life park at Dovestone reservoir as the venue for their barbecue.

Despite there being a number of signs prohibiting barbecues in Dovestone, a family can be seen preparing food in the memorial garden where locals go to remember their lost loved ones.

Last week the Chronicle reported that during the warm May Bank Holiday weekend, litter louts had a barbecue in the memorial garden and dumped their rubbish afterwards, much to the anger of those that have a tree planted there for a relative.

And on Friday, June 3 a concerned resident says rubbish was once again dumped in the treasured garden and she even shot a video of a young boy kicking the leftovers of a takeaway into the beauty spot.

The resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "Myself and my husband were in the memorial garden on Friday at about 3.30pm. A lot of people just appeared through the trees, there was about six.

"They came with picnic bags then lit a barbecue even though there are signs everywhere saying do not light a barbecue.

"Another group of people ­- about 10 of them ­- then did the same thing. We go there because it's peaceful but we left because we were a bit intimidated.

"We returned a little bit later and there was rubbish left everywhere. I couldn't believe it when I saw a young boy just kicking some of the rubbish like it was a game.

"The worry really is that a fire can very easily grow out of control in a place like Dovestone.

"It's also lambing season at the moment and if a fire breaks out it could be absolutely devastating for the lambs.

"Something really needs to be done. It's so sad to see rubbish dumped in such a beautiful area which people really treasure."

The Life for a Life memorial park at Dovestone is a scheme which involves the planting of a memorial tree or trees, installing memorial benches and memorial plaques to commemorate loved ones.

Local woman Jessica Jane and her mother visited the garden, where her father has been since 2003, last week to find a disgusting and disrespectful mountain of rubbish, including disposable barbecues and food wrappers.

She took to social media to express her disgust after she and her mother cleared the rubbish ­- filling two bin bags.

Scores of locals praised Jessica and her mother for clearing the rubbish and condemned those who dumped it.

Watch the video footage on Twitter.