A councillor has warned parents to know where their children are after lifebuoys located within Crumlin Glen were burnt.
Cllr Annemarie Logue was speaking after Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council revealed that they have spent £3,017 replacing the life-saving equipment along the Crumlin River in just six months.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Cllr Logue reiterated the dangers of teenagers gathering close to the river and recalled an incident in 2018 where a teenager had to be rescued from the river after falling in and a lifebuoy wasn't available as it was damaged.
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"This is a small group of kids around 13 or 14 who are coming in to the glen either via a whole in the fence close to the river or over the railway track," she said.
"They are using this as a drinking den and while council have come out and fixed the fence, it doesn't bare thinking about what could happen.
"We have had emergency services out and had to get a helicopter when a young man fell into the river and was carried by the current while waiting on emergency services because the lifebuoy had been vandalised.
"While they are waiting on emergency services to come in if there is an incident, the person could be dead because the equipment has been damaged."
Cllr Logue added that young people are coming to Crumlin Glen from other areas, drinking and causing damage to the park by lighting fires.
"I have raised this with the Council and contacted the Police and Community Safety Partnership and asked for more patrols. There isn't enough of them to cover the whole borough and are often caught up in other areas," she said.
"We are talking about a very small group of kids who are doing this.
"This is for their own safety and I have to ask where are their parents?
"These are kids about 13 or 14 years of age and there is a legal responsibility on their parents to know where their kids are and what they are up to.
"It is soul destroying after all the money we have seen invested in Crumlin Glen that we have to deal with this destruction."
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