Antisocial youths reportedly start fire at Shoebury Park

Glyn Meddle, 39, of Southend, was visiting Shoebury Park, in Elm Road, yesterday with his children around 2.15pm when he saw a large group of teenagers visiting the park’s public toilets.

After returning at about 3.15pm Mr Meddle claims the group of youths were vandalising the toilets and had started a fire.

Mr Meddle claims the youths had ripped a mirror sheet off the wall, rested it on toilet and then placed scrunched-up toilet or kitchen roll on it and set it on fire.

Area - signage for Shoebury Park (Image: N/A)

Shocked at the sight, he dragged it out of the public toilet and used his son's water bottles to douse the flames and extinguish the fire.

He said: “I was shocked at first, then disappointed.

“I was worried about the building fire as I play bowls at that bowls club and so didn’t want to be affected.

“I was briefly scared as I realised I had to deal with the fire before it got out of hand and then once it was all done, I was just angry.”

After the incident, he played football with his sons and checked on the toilets to make sure there were no other issues.

Wanting to help the community - Glyn Meddle (Image: Glyn Meddle)

On this occasion Mr Meddle decided not to contact the police or fire service, even though he is aware the vandalism of the park’s public toilets is an ongoing issue.

Instead, he raised awareness about this incident to Shoebury community groups on Facebook, urging parents to speak to their children about this sort of behaviour and help them understand why it is not acceptable.

Mr Meddle believes the public toilets are continually being vandalised by youths.

He said: "As disappointing as it is, there is part of me that thinks the toilets should just be removed.

"It's annoying as there are plenty of people, myself included, who when in the park may need the bathroom, but it just seems to be a focus area for crime and vandalism.

"There is a cultural and behaviour issue in the area and that is the primary issue, but in the spirit of saving money and safety, I would probably remove the toilets."