Shrewsbury Town Council’s summer bedding planting programme around the town was completed last month, with the floral features providing a warm welcome to visitors to the town centre.
The award-winning Dingle gardens are now open to the public each day from 10am until 4pm with social distancing measures in place.
Whilst most people appreciate the added floral colour, the Town Council has reported that damage to flowers has been sustained in planters along Smithfield Road.
Helen Ball, town clerk for Shrewsbury Town Council, said: “We take a great pride in the magnificent floral traditions in Shrewsbury which helps to maintain our reputation as the Town of Flowers for everyone.
“It takes a great deal of dedication from our staff to ensure that the flowers look great throughout the summer. This year has been particularly challenging with sourcing plants and staff deployed elsewhere to maintain our essential services.
“We all enjoy seeing the flowers and appreciate the hard work that goes into maintaining the floral features, and whilst there are occasions when we encounter some problems from a minority of people, we are asking local people to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards any vandalism of the floral displays within the town centre.
“If you see something untoward, I urge everyone to do their bit for the benefit of the town and report it to the Town Council or the local policing team, who will be working closely with us to ensure that any vandalism is dealt with appropriately.”
Inspector Saf Ali, from Central Shropshire Safer Neighbourhood Team, added: “We all enjoy the floral features around town and it is disheartening to see incidents of mindless theft and damage to them.
“As the town centre is beginning to show signs of recovery following the partial lockdown, we want to see everyone working together for the benefit of Shrewsbury. Wanton acts of vandalism which blight the town centre will not be tolerated.
“The town has comprehensive CCTV coverage, which is often used to identify offenders, and I cannot emphasise enough that anyone caught committing criminal offences, or acts of anti-social behaviour, will be held to account and potentially prosecuted should that be necessary.”
To report any incidents of damage to the floral planters in the town, please contact Shrewsbury Town Council on 01743 281010 during office hours or West Mercia Police on 101 or online at https://www.westmercia.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/
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