DROITWICH Spa mayor Councillor Bob Brookes has expressed his disappointment with what he called the ‘lenient’ way in which two offenders were treated after setting fire to playground equipment in Lido Park last summer.

The playground equipment was destroyed in an arson attack last July, causing £11,000 worth of physical damage to the equipment and the play area surface, and also costing further money to the fire service, West Mercia Police, and Wychavon District Council to deal with the fire and the investigation.

At the time the community, led by Matt Nicol of Nicol & Co estate agents, put an enormous amount of effort into raising money to replace and install new equipment as quickly as possible, to ensure it would still be available for youngsters before the end of the six week summer holiday.

Two people were later charged with the offence, and Councillor Brookes asked for them to be made aware of the cost of the damage, with Wychavon District Council asking for a compensation order of £24,267. However at their recent trial neither of the offenders were ordered to pay anything in compensation.

Speaking at a meeting of Droitwich Spa Town Council, Cllr Brookes said that he was very disappointed that magistrates saw fit to order no compensation. He added: “We will continue to press for compensation in cases of this kind and future offenders may not be treated so leniently.”