Residents disgusted after two Wigan borough gardens are wrecked by thieves and vandals

Those living in Standish and Atherton saw their arrangement of flowers and plants destroyed, undoing the hard work of many in the process.

The bluebell garden in Atherton has had its plants removed and presumably stolen with no remains left behind, with social media users voicing their anger.

One person said: “I love walking my dog through that little garden; it’s usually so nice and cheerful. So sad that people have to vandalise/take things”

Another said: “Sounds ridiculous but maybe if they get replaced a sign needs to go up. Sometimes it needs to be spelt out to some people.”

Meanwhile Standish’s Queen Elizabeth II memorial garden located on the corner of Church Street and Cross Street had all of the bulbs and flowers ripped up and thrown to the side.

Local gardener nicknamed Dave The Plantman had only bought new flowers and bulbs and planted them the day before the vandals struck. Now he has done his best to repair the damage.

In a social media post, he said: “I have just been Standish and replanted all the bulbs best I could that got vandalised. Last night (Monday April 24) they snapped off all the heads and threw the bulbs everywhere and stamped on some of them.”

These events have caused people to ask whether there is CCTV in the vicinity that might have caught these acts of vandalism to local oases on camera, given the upset, cost and time-wasting these attacks have caused to residents.