TWO workers from Okehampton Town Council had to struggle in the fast, cold waters of the swollen River Okement last week, to retrieve a large Biffa bin which had been pushed into the river by vandals. Park keeper David Whitfield, assisted by Colin Brown, had to scramble down the steep and slippery banks of the Okement behind Okehampton College to right the bin before bags of rubbish were swept downstream. They then tied ropes to the bin and had to use a small tractor slowly and painstakingly to pull the bin up the river bank, using planks to ease it on its way. The whole operation was wet, cold and awkward ? and this was the second rubbish bin that council workers have had to retrieve from the river. David Whitfield said: ?There?s hardly a night goes by without some vandalism taking place in the park. It?s just mindless. This is the second Biffa bin we?ve pulled out of the river this week.? The bin belonged to Parklands Leisure Centre. Colin Brown added that businesses in Okehampton need to chain up their bins, to prevent them being moved by vandals overnight. ?The college bins were always being pushed into the river, but now they chain them up,? he said. The stricken bin was first spotted by Mrs Moore, of Okehampton, who was on her way for an early morning swim at Parklands on Thursday. She said: ?I was horrified. It was full of polythene bags of rubbish, which could have caused all sorts of problems to wildlife. And the river was so full, the rubbish could have been carried a long way downstream.? Mrs Moore reported the incident to Biffa, who were unable to deal with the bin that day. Concerned about the possibility of pollution, she then phoned Okehampton Town Council which sent men to move it within a couple of hours. After the bin had been dragged from the river, Colin Brown waded downstream to retrieve the rubbish which had been swept out of it. Okehampton?s mayor Tony Leech condemned those who had pushed the bin into the river. He said: ?Youths will be youths, and it?s a shame they haven?t got something better to do. ?Unfortunately, in this case it?s not just a prank because the bin was full of rubbish. We don?t know what was in those bags or what damage their contents could have done environmentally. But, certainly, food waste wouldn?t have done the river any good.? He added that the town council is planning to install CCTV into the park in the future, which should help eliminate such vandalism. Okehampton College already has CCTV cameras ? some trained on the college?s boundaries ? so the culprits in this case may already have been caught on camera. Head of Okehampton?s park s committee Christine Marsh said she is working closely with the police and social services to try to work out why vandalism keeps happening in Okehampton. ?We?re trying to work out whether this is linked to problems that young people are having at home,? she said.
