Who’s taken our sunshine away?

Binn Green car park toilets has had solar panels stolen from its roof.

VANDALS and thieves have left their mark on the Binn Green car park at Dovestone reservoir after state-of-the-art solar panels were ripped from the roof and a new barrier was damaged.

Stolen just a month after they were installed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the expensive energy panels controlled the toilet door locks and a new barrier preventing cars using the secluded site between 10pm and 6am.

It is now thought that the damage could be in retaliation to new measures put in place by the conservation charity, that makes the car park pay and display.

RSPB site manager, David O’Hara, said: “It’s really disappointing.

“We are down but we are not out, and this type of thing is not totally unexpected.

“We hope to minimalise vandalism and things are improving with the different range of projects we have introduced.”

Area manager for the RSPB, Roy Taylor, said that the group had spent £7,000 improving the toilets at the car park and admitted that the attack could be a backlash to the new restrictions.

However he was quick to assure the public that money spent on parking goes straight back into the upkeep of the local beauty-spot.

The RSPB, which took over the management of Dovestone in April, has since reinstated the broken barrier and is considering installing CCTV at the car park.

But members of the Dovestone Sailing Club say they could have warned the conservation charity about the rowdy behaviour of some visitors.

Club member, Mick Scholes, said: “We always make things as difficult to pinch as possible because we have seen the behaviour of a minority of people that come to Dovestone.”

The club, along with Greenfield locals, last week praised increased efforts by the police in tackling anti-social behaviour.

But there is still some way to go. Local police inspector, Danny Milovanovic, said: “We’re really pleased that locals have seen a difference in Greenfield but we don’t want to rest on our laurels. We can’t be there all the time, so walkers and people that use the area near Binn Green need to lend us a helping hand.

“People need to have the confidence to report crime when they see it. They are our eyes and ears.”