Police are appealing for information after recent damage

Owners of Ottery’s Tumbling Weir Hotel say they are fed up of being repeatedly targeted by vandals - so are installing CCTV to catch the culprits.

Lynn Thurgate spoke out this week after her wooden perimeter fence was ‘kicked-in’ and left ‘strewn around the place’ as trespassers rampaged through the gardens. The incident happened on Saturday, February 13, between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.

Lynn said the cost of the damage amounts to at least £200 and added that it is just the latest in a string of acts.

Lynn said: “The fence was all kicked-in and strewn around the place. They then came into the garden and ripped birdfeeders off trees. They bashed on the door and then ran off. It keeps happening. We have had lots of things – eggs have been thrown at the hotel on numerous occasions. This was the first time they caused significant damage that will cost a lot to repair. We just get so fed up with it. Most of the time we do report it to the police. We are actually getting descriptions of the culprits and are getting CCTV installed to try and catch them.”

Mayor Glyn Dobson condemned a recent spate of vandalism in the town, in which the old factory site and Flexton public toilet have been targeted. the fence by Coleridge Bridge was also kicked in.

He said: “I’m aware it seems to be quite rife in the town at the moment – it’s just a group of people trying to do as much damage as they can.”

Police this week issued an appeal for anyone who might have witnessed – or have information about - the incident to come forward.

Members of the public can call police by dialling 101, contact PCSO Maria Clapp at Ottery’s Broad Street station or email: maria.clapp@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk, quoting crime reference: CR/009937/16.