ALLOTMENT holders in Rowde have had to implement new security measures after attacks by vandals caused several hundred pounds of damage.

In the past month the allotments, on Sands Lane in Rowde, have been hit on three occasions and during the latest incident overnight on May 30 sheds were tipped over and allotment produce damaged.

Allotment holder Chris Stephens, who is also a parish councillor, said that some gardeners are now threatening to give up their plots because of what has happened.

He said: “A lot of users have become despondent after what happened but they showed a lot of community spirit by coming together to try and sort the damage.

“Luckily one of our allotment users is a carpenter so he was able to help fix many of the sheds.

“I have never seen anything like this before, many of the sheds had been knocked over and burgled, one of them was completely decimated.”

The parish council had an emergency meeting last Friday to come up with a plan of action going forward to combat further damages taking place.

A committee was formed as the allotments are now going to be part of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners and new security measures have now been put in place, with further solar-powered cameras to be installed in the new few weeks.

Parish clerk Rebekah Jeffries said: “The parish council took action as eight of the 21 allotment plots here in Rowde were damaged.

“The first two times plots were trampled and minor damage occurred but this last time considerable damage was done.”

PC Andy List from the Devizes Neighbourhood Policing Team has said they are currently pursuing several viable lines of inquiry in relation to the incident.

He said: “This sort of vandalism is quite unusual. The Rowde allotments are in a unique position as they are more isolated compared to others such Devizes which are next to a residential area.”

Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area or has any information about the damages should contact PC List at Devizes Police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.