OIL was found smeared on children’s play equipment in Oakley – just one incident in a string of vandalism at the park.

The play area, in Kennet Way, was found smeared with oil on Saturday (June 11), leaving residents unable to use the equipment.

Janette Boyd-Marshall came across the vandalism when she visited the park with her grandchildren.

She said: “We went to open the gate, and there was greasy oil over the gate and the gate posts.

“When we went in it was smeared all over the play equipment and the benches, so it really meant that people couldn’t use the park.

“In fact, an older lady with a child in a wheelchair came along wanting to use the lovely facilities there and couldn’t because there was oil all over everything.”

According to Janette, the equipment has since been cleaned by a member of the public.

“Somebody very kindly went along, I think with buckets of soapy water, and cleaned it all off. It’s all been done, but it was all very, very sad.”

Janette said that this incident is just the latest in a string of vandalism that has affected the park.

She continued: “There were a group of kids there who saw it happen, saw the children that did it.

“It was just a group of kids, who were having a prank, I think, but it made it unusable for everybody in the village.”

This is the second time that the play equipment has been vandalised within a week, as the equipment had previously been graffitied towards the middle of the previous week.

Oakley Skatepark has also previously been graffitied.

In a statement, Hampshire police said that they had not received any reports of vandalism at Kennett Way Park or the wider Oakley area over the weekend.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has also been contacted for a comment.

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