Park and hide!

Photo: Picture: ANTHONY MILLER

WHO put that there . . . ranger Richard Hadfield ponders over the xylophone bench which suddenly appeared.

Strange goings-on at Daisy Nook...

WHEN parks bosses spotted colourful repairs to benches and structures springing up around Daisy Nook, they thought rangers must be working with local schools on a project.

But when no-one owned up to carrying out the tasks, parks boss Steve Smith began to suspect a guerilla repairman was at work.

He said: “I kept coming across all sorts of quirky repairs to benches that once had seats missing, damaged walkways where new slats had been put in and new look-out posts for children.

“They were very bright and colourful and made me smile, so I thought I would find out a bit more about it.”

But Steve’s inquiries drew a blank.

“No-one knew who was doing it. It’s a mystery,” he said.

“The repairs just appear overnight, so whoever it is must be doing it either very early in the morning or late at night.”

The repairs would so far have cost the council in the region of £2,000 to £3,000, and Steve wants to track the mystery repairer down to thank them.

“Someone is acting with great community spirit, it’s heart-warming and I think it’s fantastic,” he said.

“The repairs are clever, inventive and eye-catching.

“Anything that puts a smile on your face and brings back into use something which needs repairing is a good thing.

“We are always looking for innovative ways of making repairs, and it would be nice to find out who it is, and see if we can work with them in the future.”


::Do you know the mystery repairer? Email news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk