VANDALS poured washing up liquid into the fountain at Dartmouth’s Royal Avenue Gardens last Friday night, July 8 – the second time this has happened in the last two months.

Members of the Old Dartmothians Association, who maintain the fountain, will now have to spend up to 100 hours sorting it out.

Old Dartmothians Chairman Robert Waycott said: “A terrific amount of work will now have to go into sorting it out. The whole pumping system will have to be drained and stripped, flushed through, and any damaged seals replaced caused by the incident. We’re all volunteers and it’ll take 80 to 100 hours of labour to get the soap suds out of the system.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened, it’s the second in two months. We’re not saying it’s just children messing around having fun. It’s not funny, it’s criminal damage. In common with other acts of wanton vandalism, it never ceases to amaze that some people see fit to trash the environment in which they live, and don’t have any sense of collective pride in the place they inhabit.

“We all pay for the water that goes into the fountain and when it’s off it takes away the pleasure for visitors to the garden who like to see it. The fountain will now be switched off all this week while we make arrangements to clean it.”

Robert said the incident has been reported to the Police and Dartmouth Town Council, who will be studying CCTV footage that covers the Royal Avenue Gardens area, with a view to apprehending the person or persons responsible.

Anyone with any information on the incident is asked to contact Dartmouth Police.