COUNCILLORS have condemned “systematic attacks” by vandals on a Bradford park after changing rooms were burnt down, the latest in a string of incidents.

A cabin was destroyed in a fire at Peel Park on Monday afternoon, which was used as a changing facility for local football teams who play at the park.

While West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue could not give an exact cause of the fire,Councillor Rachel Sunderland (Bolton and Undercliffe, Liberal Democrat) said she suspected it was an arson attack, the latest act in a catalogue of vandalism to plague Peel Park since the start of 2016.

In January, people illegally racing vehicles in the park left the ground churned up by large tyre marks, and earlier this month, thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused when vandals targeted play equipment and trees, damaging a climbing frame and children’s swings, as well as starting fires on a slide and writing graffiti.

Cllr Sunderland said that the latest attack follows another fire in the same area three weeks ago.

“I have spoken to police about this, and I am meeting with them to discuss the recurring vandalism in Peel Park,” she said. “We have set up a Friends of Peel Park group who are trying to turn the park around, and it’s really disheartening for this kind of thing to happen; we need a police response for these criminal acts, and until we catch the people responsible it will still be a problem,” she said.

“We’ve had a number of issues recently, and in terms of vandalism we need to be asking some questions of the police, because volunteers can litter pick all they want but they cannot carry out criminal interventions.”

Cllr Sunderland saidalso mentioned she is trying to secure heritage funding to carry out work at the park, and has been floating the idea of reopening the park’s café, which she thinks may help cut down on vandalism.

“We have been considering using the café for it’s actual purpose, because at the moment it is basically being used as a shed.

“If we have the café open into the evenings with people around, it might deter vandals from coming into the park, while at the same time generating some income for the park.”

Cllr Michael Stelling (Bolton and Undercliffe, Lib Dem) also condemned the latest attack on the changing rooms.

He said: “What has happened here is crazy, it’s been going on for a while and is a systematic attack on the park by some individuals; it’s beyond belief what they are doing. I don’t know if it’s the same people or different ones, but it’s something for the police to deal with, and I will be in contact with them.”

“We have had various things happen at the park recently, but it certainly is worrying that this has happened on the first day of the school summer holidays.”

Demolition crews were at Peel Park yesterday morning to knock down and remove what was left of the empty shell of the Portacabin remains, which was completely gutted during the fire.

Fire crews from Bradford and Idle attended the incident on Monday afternoon after receiving a call at 4.15pm, and spent at least an hour tackling the blaze.

Aidy Bamford, investigating officer from Bradford Fire Station, said: “A Portacabin used as changing rooms was well alight when we arrived, and we found no gas cylinders in there, it was just changing facilities. The left door was off and on the ground, and the grass underneath was dead so it must have been off for about a week, so people will have been able to go inside. We have no exact cause for the fire, but it was not a natural occurrence.”