ONE of two new park benches "built like battleships" and erected at the trouble hot-spot on Lion Green has been attacked by vandals after just four days.

The bench, worth £200, was believed to have been wrenched out of its concrete base by a hawser attached to a vehicle. It left the so-called vandal-proof heavy, quarter-of-an-inch galvanised steel mountings of the bench twisted and requiring welding before it can be re-cemented into the ground.

This, the latest in a long line of vandalism, took place on Thursday of last week just as Haslemere town councillors were discussing whether to give the go-ahead for a shelter to provide a meeting place for young people.

The benches were designed to withstand vandalism and town clerk Mike O'Neil, who had described the benches as being "built like battleships", was saddened by the latest incident.

"This is very frustrating. As an officer of this town I'm trying to raise the standards, and for all the hard work to be undone like this is awful.

"Just as the town council's committee was talking about it, the benches were being ripped out. The metal base has been twisted to such an extent that its now unusable.

"This is extremely disappointing."

Oblivious to the latest attacks, the finance and general purposes committee discussed ways to remedy the continuing problem of anti-social behaviour by erecting a shelter for youngsters to use.

It was a suggestion by crime reduction adviser for Waverley, John Robini, to erect a shelter on the green. He told members that if youngsters had their own shelter, it was likely to make them more responsible and less tempted to cause further vandalism.

"This is not a long-term solution to the problems in Haslemere, but it is a way of trying to stop the situation we have, which is currently confrontation between two sections of society - young people and the elderly."

The estimated cost of the shelter is between £3,500 and £12,000 and would be funded by a partnership plan with Waverley Borough Council.

The town council may be expected to fund general maintenance costs.

The idea was met with a mixed response from councillors, who agreed that the situation needs to be addressed but were unsure this was the most feasible option.

Barbara Jeffers said: "I can't understand how the shelter deflects those who want to get up to no good.

"I'm also concerned about where it will be sited. If you rule out siting it near houses, or play equipment, the choice left becomes very limited."

Further concern was expressed by James Mackie. "I'm not sure what the youngsters are going to do there. There don't seem to be any facilities. Is there going to be a bar or something, because I'd imagine if there's nothing there people will become bored. However, having said that, we've probably got little to lose by trying it out."

Jackie Keen was confident the idea would work if young people were allowed to choose where the shelter is placed and take responsibility for it.

"When I went to Lion Green on a freezing cold day in the winter there was still a large group of young people there, which proved to me just how popular it is. We don't want to tell them where the shelter has to go - this about young people's 'ownership', which is important from the word go.

"If it doesn't work it can easily be removed."

Mark Lelliott added: "My concern is that if the young people cause more damage and injury, the council could be seen to be encouraging it by providing this facility. I'm perfectly happy to try it, but I'm not optimistic about the outcome."

He added: "People find groups of youngsters standing around intimidating and I see this as making that worse.

Mr Robini responded: "People already don't like walking past where the youths are. If we don't do anything, the problems are going to get worse. We need to be seen to be doing something so the public feel less harassed.

"Young people want to feel safe themselves and this needs to be somewhere with surveillance and street lighting. If they have their own facility, they may look after it."

Lion Green has been blighted by repeated anti-social behaviour for the last few years

Last month, The Herald reported that a weekend of vandalism and drunkenness left broken glass on children's swings, and tiles had been ripped from the ground and hurled across the green. Residents have persistently complained about the large gathering of youths drinking alcohol and the elderly have complained of feeling intimidated when they walk past the groups of youngsters.

The possibility of a shelter will be discussed more fully by the council at a later date.