'Teach your children to value these areas' - Police to parents after repeated damage to Darwen playground
Police have asked parents for their help stopping youths damaging a popular park playground.
Blackburn with Darwen Police say they have seen an increase in both antisocial and criminal behaviour in the Bold Venture area of Darwen in the past few months. Bold Venture Park itself has seen a number of incidents of criminal damage, arson, theft and intimidatory behaviour caused by youths. A further arson occurred on Sunday when a wheelie bin was set alight.
Now they want support from local parents, saying “we cannot be everywhere at once”.
A statement on the force’s Facebook page said: “This is unacceptable. Our Neighbourhood, Response and Special Ops teams have been spending a substantial amount of time at Bold Venture. We continue to work alongside the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, Blackburn with Darwen Community Safety and Green Spaces teams, Darwen Youth Zone and our Youth Justice Service to offer words of advice, support, diversionary activities and, when called for, issue punitive measures.
“With that being said, we cannot be everywhere at once. Parents and carers - we know that the majority of your children are polite, well-mannered and respect the open spaces of the town. You may already know that this post does not relate to children in your care. Unfortunately, we are also aware of pockets of youths who are responsible for causing issues at the park, and continue do so.
“Outdoor spaces such as Bold Venture Park exist for the pleasure of everybody. Please teach your young people to value these areas and respect those that wish to utilise them safely and peacefully.”
Share information
If you have any information that may be of use to the police regarding previous incidents or the incident on December 28, contact them directly and anonymously via 101 or through the online portal , https://orlo.uk/https___doitonline_lancashire_police_uk... quoting log reference LC-20251228-0868.
Alternatively, PCSO’s 7858 Young and 7926 Liska are the Police Community Support Officers for the Bold Venture area. You can contact them via email on [email protected] or [email protected].