'Heartless' vandals force open dozens of sheds at allotments

VANDALS who attacked dozens of allotments at Deneside Copse in Pennington have been described as “heartless” by the town’s mayor.

The damage to a string of forced-open sheds at the site was reported by a tenant today (Wednesday) to Lymington and Pennington Town Council, which manages them.

Town mayor Cllr Anne Corbridge said: “This is unspeakable. The thought that anybody would be so heartless as to perpetrate this crime, at a time when tending an allotment is one of the few joys available, is completely unbelievable.

“Allotments are such a wonderful opportunity to gain fresh air, grow produce and simply enjoy nature. We are fortunate to be able to hold them open at this present time, but day to day we do not know how long this will last.

“I really hope that someone will have an idea who is responsible and will report it to the police.”

Allotment holder Jackie Hansford, who lives nearby, said that doors were forced and windows smashed, with nearly all of the approximately 50 plots hit in some way.

However, none of the crops were targeted, she said, and so far the only theft reported is that of an axe.

“We feel annoyed,” Ms Hansford said. “You get disheartened thinking someone would do something like this, and for what? Nothing’s really been stolen, but they’ve done all this damage to the sheds.

“We really don’t know what we’re looking at here – whether it’s just vandalism by people who don’t know what to do with themselves, or if it’s people looking to take tools.”

Anyone with information should contact Hampshire police on 101, quoting incident reference SD1068420444400, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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