ELM: Parish council chairman offers �50 reward to catch culprits who damaged cemetery

A PARISH council chairman has offered a �50 reward to catch the youths who damaged a village cemetery. Councillor Robert Pinnock says he has put up the reward because of the distress caused to relatives of those buried in Elm Cemetery near Wisbech. Visito

A PARISH council chairman has offered a �50 reward to catch the youths who damaged a village cemetery.

Councillor Robert Pinnock says he has put up the reward because of the distress caused to relatives of those buried in Elm Cemetery near Wisbech. Visitors have found floral tributes destroyed and scattered.

"If you let them get away with this then the next thing is they will be knocking down the headstones," said Cllr Pinnock.

"This is a very emotional place for people who visit and it is upsetting for them to find flowers strewn all over the place. We want to get this stopped because we are getting some quite distraught people who have just buried their loved ones and it is simply not on.

"Elm Parish Council will take a zero tolerance policy against any person committing damage."

The parish council is also tightening security at the playing field in Begdale with new security gates which are locked at night.

Cllr Pinnock said: "Our groundsmen have had to pick up used needles, empty 'wraps', beer bottles and clear up human excrement.

"The car park has been used as a racing track, the Portacabin has been damaged, and goal posts destroyed by cars hitting them."

It has also been damaged by a quad bike but Cllr Pinnock said he was disappointed that the person concerned was not visited by the police after a nearby resident took details.

He said: "I wrote to Councillor Jill Tuck, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, pointing out that the public are continually being asked to be the 'eyes and ears' of the police yet I do not see this as a reciprocal arrangement." His comments have been passed on to the police.