Morons wreck toddlers’ play time
Reporter: DAWN ECKERSLEY
Date published: 01 April 2009
Hollie Wright and the vandalised play area at Moorside Pre School, Haven Lane.
A nursery has become the victim of a sickening vandalism attack — for a second time.
Staff at the Moorside Pre-School and Nursery opened the blinds on Monday to find the play area strewn with broken equipment.
Yobs had climbed over the fence and ripped a storage container open and then broke all the toys, destroyed the sandpit and ripped the stuffing out of the childrens’ scarecrows.
They left beer cans scattered all over the garden at the Haven Lane nursery.
This week’s attack echoes an incident at the same nursery in September when bikes, rides, building bricks and toys for children with special needs were stolen.
Security fence
Local Lottery millionaire Tommy Cone, of Ripponden Road, came to the rescue when he donated £2,500 to help the nursery repair the damage caused.
Nursery owner Janet Clegg says they desperately need a security fence at the back of the building to prevent future attacks.
She said: “When I saw what these mindless yobs had done I felt sick to my stomach. It almost makes it worse that they didn’t steal anything this time because it just makes it seem so pointless and senseless.
“The children are devastated and we can’t let them play outside because it is too dangerous but we can’t afford to have anything fixed. They are missing vital parts of their curriculum by not going outside and it’s just not fair.
“The children were only just getting over the last attack in September when things were stolen and it has taken ages to get the play area back into good shape again just for someone to come along and destroy it.
“We were so grateful to Tommy when he helped us out last time and we are waiting to hear if we will get an Early Years grant to build a security fence at the back because there is no point making the garden nice if people can just come in and trash it.”
The nursery contacted police about the incident and they have agreed to step up local patrols in a bid to deter future attacks.
