Victoria Park gates 'should be locked at night'

26/10/2009

A petition consisting of 250 signatures has been presented to the local authority in Surbiton urging it to consider locking the gates to Victoria Park at night.

The campaign to persuade Kingston Council to tighten up security measures in the park is the result of concerns over serious crime, vandalism and attacks, the Surrey Comet reports.

It came to a head when a man was stabbed there in August, prompting local people to call for public safety to be taken seriously by Kingston Council.

Deborah Patient, Conservative candidate for the St Mark's ward in Surbiton, agreed that closing the gates is a good idea.

"It's unbelievable that the problems in the park have been allowed to carry on for so long without any real action from the council," she told the paper.

"Residents shouldn't have to put up with constant antisocial behaviour and crime."

Campaigners in Mapperley and Shipley recently staged a protest over the decision to lock two gates in Shipley Country Park, according to the Ripley and Heanor News.