Meters vandalised hours before park charges begin

Multiple parking meters have been vandalised in Leeds shortly before charges at several beauty spots were introduced.

Leeds City Council said machines at Surprise View on Otley Chevin and Golden Acre Park in Bramhope were targeted over the last 48 hours, with a report made to police.

The local authority introduced charges at five parks from Monday "to fund necessary maintenance and better facilities", but the move has been met with opposition from some park users.

West Yorkshire Police said both incidents were under investigation and officers from the local neighbourhood policing team would be increasing their patrols of the sites.

The local authority said a Surprise View machine was damaged over the weekend, with a Golden Acre Park meter vandalised between Sunday and Monday morning.

Both incidents were reported to the police on Monday, it added.

Parking charges have also been introduced at Roundhay Park, Temple Newsam and Middleton Park.

The charge is £4 for a full day of parking, with a year's season ticket available to use at all five locations costing £80.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "While we understand that not everyone is happy about the necessary introduction of parking charges, vandalising the machines is unacceptable and we ask that anyone with information comes forward.

"The income raised from the charge is used to directly support our parks and vandalism of the payment machines will directly impact the visitor experience."

Visitors would have to pay for parking electronically while the machines were not working, the spokesperson added.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.