PEOPLE who don’t want to pay Wirral’s recently introduced charges at country parks have taken things to extreme levels.

This was the scene at Royden Country Park in Frankby, where someone reportedly put expanding foam in the parking meters so they became blocked and no money could be inserted.

The image was posted on the Crimewatch Wirral Facebook page, and received a mixed response, with many condoning the act as criminal damage, and others amused by what had happened.

Wirral Council has slammed the action as a “mindless, irresponsible act of vandalism”, adding that it has been reported to the police.

Leanne Bosworth, a mum of three from Newton, posted the image, and said similar damage had been done to both meters at the car park there.

She said: “I took the picture this morning after checking the other meter when I went with a friend to walk my dog, Bear.

“As they were all damaged, and we couldn’t use contactless to pay because the tickets wouldn’t come out, we decided to leave a note in my car of what time we parked and stating all machines were out of order, and I had photo evidence that I was willing to supply if needed.”

It comes after charges were introduced earlier this year at Royden as well as Wirral Country Park in Thurstaston, Arrowe Country Park and Eastham Country Park, with it now costing 50p for the first hour, £1 for two hours or £2 for an all-day pass.

The foam is usually used in DIY, for fitting windows or insulating awkward, difficult to reach places.

Leanne, 39, added: “In all honesty, I thought it was amusing that someone had gone to great lengths to not have to pay 50p.

“I don’t condone criminal damage in any way whatsoever, but I also don’t agree with having to pay to park in our country parks.

“It’s always being said that children need to get out more and off their computers and away from the TVs, so why, when more and more people are living under the breadline, should those people not be able to even park in a beautiful place and enjoy a good old family day of fresh air and exercise for free?”

Responding to the news on Thursday, Cllr Stuart Whittingham, cabinet member for highways and infrastructure, said: “As much as some people might see this as a kind of protest against the decision to ask people to pay for car parking at our country parks, I’d prefer to call it what it is – a crime; a mindless, irresponsible act of vandalism and effectively a theft of council tax payers’ money.”

He said both damaged machines have now been repaired and are back in operation, adding: “However, every penny that we spend repairing or replacing a vandalised parking machine in a park is a penny that cannot then be invested in maintaining our beautiful parks so that they can be enjoyed by everyone.

“In an ideal world we would not be asking people to pay a small charge to park their car at our country parks, but it is not ideal that Wirral Council has seen its budget hacked by a further £45m this year on top of the £200m worth of savings that we have already had to make over the last few years.

“As a result, we have been forced to find others ways to continue funding non-statutory services such as public parks or face the prospect of them falling into decline. Nobody wants that to happen but, sadly, acts such as this will just put a further dent into the revenue we are seeking to raise through car parking charges, which goes directly towards supporting the upkeep of the park.

“It is just an unacceptable thing to do and it has been reported to the police and community patrol.”

The news also comes after Wirral Council’s cabinet decided to scrap plans to introduce parking charges at coastal locations around the borough.