A video has caught a moment that a group of youths set fire to a bin in a Bury park. The video shows two teenagers in black hoodies learning over the bin and setting it alight.
On Tuesday evening (3 May), at around 7.30pm, a group entered Town Meadow Park, an urban park covering 1.9 hectares in Tottington. They were hanging around the play area and just after 8.15pm, set fire to two bins around the park.
An eyewitness, Amy, who did not wish to give her surname, had asked the group to leave the park, as they were disrupting her rounders game with her friends. Amy, 32, said: " It was originally two lads that came from the bottom of the park. They looked about 14.
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"They came onto the pitch during our rounders game and they were mimicking and pretending to play the game and saying, ‘we are playing a proper game here, get out the way.’ We asked them to leave and they carried on walking.
"There were some young kids- some of our kids- playing with a ball in the basketball area and the tennis area. And the lads started saying to them, ‘pass us your ball, pass us your ball.’
"A few people started saying to the lads, ‘leave the kids alone.’ The lads then started effing and jeffing. I asked them to move on and they began shouting abuse. I didn't swear back at them at all.
"I said, ‘you need to grow up, I think it's past your bedtime now.' Then they hung around the park and the next thing you know, I saw them using an aerosol and matches to light a bin on fire."
Amy and her friends then rushed over to the bin and were able to put out the fire with water. A few minutes later, they saw the lads had set fire to a second bin behind the bowling green.
She continued: " Luckily, we were training, so we had water bottles with us. We drenched the bin with water so they wouldn’t be able to light it again.
"But as we were there, on a walk-through behind where the bowling green is, t here were three lads at this point. They were setting fire to another bin, again, with an aerosol.
"When they saw us, they started running off and headed down the road. For that bin, we went to put the fire out, but it didn’t even go out.
"So I had to go back to the bowling green to get some more water, and then go back and put it out. Good job I did, because the bin was fully burning by then.
"After that, we didn't see the lads again. It was a plastic bin, so it would have burned out. It was dangerous, especially because there there were kids playing there. It’s just ridiculous."
Amy labelled the incident "disgusting". She even advised three girls who were playing in the park to leave for their own safety.
She added: "My friends and I weren't intimidated, but there were three girls that were playing in the park who felt unsafe. I told them to go home- you shouldn't have to tell kids to go home from the park.
"It's a public park- it's supposed to be safe. The lads' attitude stunk. It was absolutely disgusting.
"They had no remorse with what they were doing. They just wanted to carry on doing it, without any repercussions. There was no fear. They weren’t bothered in the slightest.
"I hope the parents make the lads do the right thing and at least make them tidy up the mess. They should do something publicly, because they have damaged public property.
"It's the small things, like if people start to whinge about not having anywhere to put their rubbish in or their dog waste in, it’s down to the kids who have burned the bins out."
The incident occurred on the same night that a 'stolen' tractor went on a devastating rampage in the Tottington area, hitting nine cars and leaving a trail of destruction.
GMP has been contacted for comment.
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