MEMBERS of Tavistock’s bowling club are considering tightening up security after the latest vandalism attack on their Plymouth Road base.

Groundsman Brian Davies said they were talking over the possibility of installing CCTV cameras with other interested parties.

Several organisations, including West Devon Borough Council, based around the Meadows public open space, have suffered from damage over the past 18 months, the latest being a fire set on the bowling club’s green.

Last year, West Devon Borough Council slapped a public spaces protection order on the Meadows, which is designed to help police tackle anti-social behaviour in the area.

Tavistock Town Council, who own the Meadows, made the request for the order to be imposed after suffering thousands of pounds worth of damage in the park.

Mr Davies said club members had tried to reason with youngsters suspected of causing damage to the premises, but talking had not seemed to work.

He said: ‘Unfortunately, when you try to talk to them, all you get back is abuse. The one thing we don’t want to do as members is to aggravate the situation.’

Mr Davies said, in common with other groups, the club had been experiencing vandalism problems for the past 12-18 months.

Police are investigating the latest attack on the club, which saw ‘unknown offenders’ set fire to a pile of what appeared to be a pile of clothes on the green, scorching its surface.

They are urging anyone with information on what they are describing as arson, which happened on May 31 around 7.30pm to come forward.

Mr Davies said he had started to report incidents to the police because he wanted people in the town to know what was going on.

He said: ‘It is frustrating - we’ve had windows smashed and they’ve had alcohol down here and left their drugs paraphenalia - but we can’t do anything about the youngsters and I don’t want anybody to put themselves at risk.

‘The police are doing their bit and have been down to talk to them, but we are talking about putting up CCTV with the Sensory Garden.

‘It’s a shame because we are asking why we should have to do this.’