THOUSANDS of pounds of taxpayers’ cash is being spent to protect an allotment site from vandals and thieves.

Benfleet Neighbourhood Committee has to increase security at the Jotmans Farm allotment site by building a fence to stop thieves getting in.

It is hoped the fence, which will cost an estimated £2,850, will curb a series of recent break-ins where power tools and other equipment has been taken from the sheds on the site, off Canvey Way.

Alf Partridge, committee chairman, said two of the allotment holders knew who had taken their tools and got them back.

He said: “The fence will be erected to protect allotment owners and will improve the security of the area enormously.

“I have spoken to two allotment owners who have had equipment stolen from their plots, and have had to take it upon themselves to steal their tools back from the thieves.”

The 1.5-metre chain link fence will run for 135 metres along the eastern side of the area.

Allotment holders have been calling for a fence to be put up around the site to also stop dogs entering the area and damaging the plants.

The new fence will create a permanent pathway between Romsey Road and Bouldrewood Road, Benfleet, allowing dog owners to walk their pets without encroaching upon the allotments.

Derek Hill, 67, of Gleneagles, said: “The council has dealt with this problem amicably. This fence is exactly the solution we wanted and I think virtually everybody who attends the allotments is happy.”

Power cables running underneath the pathway also meant the land could not have been used to create further plots for allotment holders.

Mr Partridge said: “It is a fair compromise between the two sides and at the same time does not deprive the public of a nice spot to walk through.”

The councillor asked for money to be spent on the fence at a committee meeting earlier this month.

It is the first project the committee has funded this year, as part of its £6,000 budget for the 2011/12 financial year.

The money must be used up by the end of April 2012, as it cannot be carried over into next year’s budget.