A TOWN council has been advised to introduce new security measures in a public park after repeated acts of vandalism.
Millom Town Council is discussing ways of preventing crime in Millom Park after it was daubed with graffiti on a number of occasions this month.
Cumbria police have confirmed two reports of graffiti being sprayed on the path in the park on St George's Road between October 7-10 and one more incident which saw graffiti being sprayed on the play equipment in the park between 9pm on October 13 and 8am on October 14.
Members of the council want to find ways to protect the park from more attacks.
Councillor Ray Cole is frustrated by the damage and wants to highlight the issue with parents.
He said: "We're doing our best to spend public money wisely but things like this don't help. Parents need to be made aware that they are the ones paying for this - not us.
"It's members of the public who pay the precept and we could spend that money much more wisely elsewhere. We need to consider some security provision. It could be CCTV or more lighting.
"It all costs money but it might be better to prevent it. We need to protect our assets."
Councillors have discussed ideas such as installing CCTV, adding security lighting, sound deterrents or even restricting access.
Councillor Denise Burness agreed with Cllr Cole and believes severe measures need to be taken.
She said: "I totally agree with Councillor Cole that we need some security measures. I think CCTV might be a good idea. Security lighting is a good idea but what's the point? It highlights that they are doing something but we can't do anything else."
In addition to introducing methods to improve security, councillors are also calling for major improvements to be made to the multi-use area.
Youth councillor Ross Bawden reported in a meeting on Wednesday evening that young people in the town had complained about the state of the area.
He told councillors that complaints had been made about the fencing and the missing basketball boards and called for improvements to be made.
Cllr Burness reassured him that the council was "well aware" that it was something that needed to be tackled.
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