Hunt is on to catch Lewes vigilantes

23 January 2007

A £5,000 reward is being offered by local councils in a bid to catch vandals responsible for blowing up dozens of parking meters in Lewes.
Since new parking restrictions were introduced in the East Sussex town in September 2004, a number of vigilantes have taken the law into their own hands. So far, more than 200 attacks have destroyed 33 of the town’s 96 ticket machines and damaged dozens of others, at a cost of £300,000. The culprits, who have not stolen any money from the machines during the attacks, are thought to be using fireworks.
East Sussex County Council and Lewes District Council are offering a joint reward of £5,000 to trace the offenders, and East Sussex is planning to introduce cashless payment to reduce dependency on machines in the street.
The Lewes parking scheme charges 50p for 20 minutes in the High Street and £1 for all day in outlying areas. Last year, the cost of the damage caused by the ‘bombers’ was equivalent to the entire income from business, resident and visitor permits for the entire year, the council claims. A spokesman for East Sussex said parking charges would be levied to cover the cost of the vandalism in coming years. Matthew Lock, lead member for transport and environment, said, ‘As well risking life and limb, it is the people of Lewes who suffer the financial consequences of this. So far, it has cost £300,000, and this has to be recovered through higher charges for permits and for pay-and-display parking.
‘It also means that any surplus income which would have been spent on local transport improvements will just not be there.’
A spokesman for Lewes Chamber of Commerce said people were opposed to the ‘Draconian nature of the scheme, which is more suitable for a London borough. But obviously, we don’t condone blowing up meters’.

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