Port Sunlight Hillsborough memorial could be fitted with CCTV cameras after yobs strike again

Jun 9 2010 by Laura Jones, Birkenhead News

THE Hillsborough memorial garden in Port Sunlight could be fitted with CCTV cameras in a bid to stop yobs trashing it for a third time.

The area of Jubilee Crescent normally reserved for tributes and peaceful reflection was left in ruins on June 6 last year when vandals kicked stone balustrades to pieces.

At the time Merseyside police described the attack as an act of “wanton vandalism”.

Although witnesses reported seeing a group of youths running from the scene and several teenagers were questioned, there was not enough evidence to press charges of criminal damage.

But only weeks after the garden reopened thanks to a £26,500 community fundraising bid, vandals returned.

This time they climbed on the memorial, causing serious structural damage to the balustrade.

As a result, stonemasons have been drafted in to reinforce the walls with stainless steel dowling poles at a cost of £1,500 to prevent the memorial collapsing again.

The village trust has now submitted a planning application to Wirral council as they seek permission to install two evidential standard cameras on the memorial.