Vandals damage river garden boats

Rowing boats at a Derbyshire park had to be taken out of service after vandals drilled holes in them.

During an inspection of the boats at Belper River Gardens last weekend, managers found small holes in a number of them.

Simon Gladwin from Amber Valley Borough Council said the holes had been made deliberately small so as not to be spotted until boats were on the water.

Anyone with information about the boats should contact Derbyshire Police.

"We routinely inspect the boats every day before they are opened to the public, so fortunately the damage was detected and all the boats were immediately taken out of service," said Mr Gladwin.

"The potential consequences of this are extremely serious. Someone could have got themselves into severe difficulty and maybe even lost their life as a result of this mindless vandalism.

"We have reported the matter to the police and would encourage anyone who visited the River Gardens over the weekend and noticed anything suspicious to report it to the police immediately."