A council has agreed to replace a vandalised park swing with a more robust alternative.

Uppingham Town Councillors approved the £1,395 replacement swing for Tod's Piece park at a meeting on Wednesday (November 4), after amenities committee chairperson Liz Clarke suggested by not doing so they would be "punishing the kids who behave well".

Speaking to the LDRS, Coun Clarke described vandalism in the town as inevitable, while suggesting that addressing broken equipment remains "part of the ongoing story of being on a council".

She said: "Vandalism has been going on forever and a day. The current generation is no different from any other generation, so I can't see it changing.

"There are some children who will break things and some that will enjoy things. We just have to allow for the fact we may have to repair stuff because it's been broken, but things also wear out."

Uppingham residents have reported a spate of anti-social behaviour incidents over the past few months, prompting police officers to increase patrols to curb the trend.

Notwithstanding the relatively few incidents of vandalism recorded within the town, Coun Clarke attributes the criminal activity to boredom amongst Uppingham's youth.

"Unless we can engage with the people who are committing this vandalism, in such a way that makes them feel the town belongs to them so they don't want to damage it, it's always going to happen," Coun Clarke continued.

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"We have maintenance budgets for exactly this reason, because sometimes things need to be repaired. I've chaired the amenities committee for a while now, and we don't have huge amounts to do.

"We always budget for new capital development and we always budget for maintenance. It's something the council has always done and will continue to do."

Speaking at the meeting, Coun Clarke suggested there was very little in the town for "middle kids" between seven and 13 to play on, adding "if they want to hang about on a swing on Tod's Piece, it's the very least we can do"

The council agreed to replace the Tod's Piece swing using its community investment levy funding with unanimous approval.