The Leader of Douglas Borough Council, Councillor David Christian MBE JP, has called the recent spate of vandalism in Douglas ‘despicable’.

Councillor Christian was referring to a fire caused deliberately in the public toilets on Loch Promenade and vandalism to Shaw’s Brow car park.

He said: ‘Regrettably there has been a noticeable escalation in the frequency and severity of vandalism in the town. These despicable and deliberate criminal acts cost many thousands of pounds to rectify. As a consequence, they impose an unnecessary financial burden on ratepayers, causing the Council to be forced to redirect monies budgeted for delivering and improving its services. But we cannot count the cost of vandalism in monetary terms alone. There is also the social impact, which means the community as a whole suffers and feels less secure.

‘The Council is working with the police who have evidence, notably CCTV images, that confirm the offenders are a small group of youths whose actions give the Island’s young people a bad name, which is unfair on the majority of young people who are well behaved, responsible and of whom we are justly proud. The Council will pursue costs from them or their parents to make it clear that it will not tolerate this woefully antisocial behaviour which has a deeply corrosive effect on our town’s – and our island’s – quality of life.

‘The Isle of Man has a strong legacy of community spirit and civic pride. Let us not have that dented by the toxic behaviour of a minority. To ignore vandalism is to encourage its continuation. On behalf of Douglas Borough Council I’m issuing a call to the people of this Island to join with us and the police to stem the tide of vandalism in our towns and villages and report anything suspicious to the police.

‘The police recently asked parents: “Do you know where your young people are?” Clearly, the parents of these young offenders do not know where they are.’