Payback for resort railway vandal

A TEEN who vandalised a seafront attraction was forced to hand himself into the police – by his parents.

A 16-year-old Grimsby youth has agreed to spend the summer working voluntarily at the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway after causing criminal damage to the King's Road site last weekend.

As reported, two youths on scooters smashed through the gates of the railway and ripped up scores of flowers planted for the Cleethorpes In Bloom competition.

After the Grimsby Telegraph posted CCTV footage of the break-in online at www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk, one of the boys' parents forced their son to hand himself into Humberside Police.

When their son was officially reprimanded and released, the parent set about making amends by contacting railway manager Chris Shaw.

He said: "One of the lads' parents rang up and said we deserved some recompense.

"The parents were so disgusted, they are going to get their offspring to do some work here to make up for it.

"It's a case of them putting right what they did wrong – and that's good news for everybody."

Mr Shaw said the teenager will

be involved in work ranging from general tidying to cleaning out the station's ash pit

He said: "I think a valuable lesson has been learned.

"What's happened also shows the parents are as concerned as we are."

Following the vandalism, the damage was cleaned up in time to impress the East Midlands In Bloom judges, who visited the resort on Wednesday.

Mr Shaw said: "They thought the station looked lovely.

"We showed them the article on the front of the Grimsby Telegraph and they took it into account.

"Lots of people from the community came to help us after the vandalism and that spirit is an important part of the In Bloom initiative."

In light of the incident, Mr Shaw said he will be looking at improving security at the station.

A spokesperson for Humberside Police confirmed one of the boys received an official reprimand for his part in the damage. Another youth is on bail in connection with the incident until a date in August.

The spokesperson added: "This is a great success for us as often people who carry out criminal damage are never caught.

"This is community payback with a difference."