There's no excuse for this kind of behaviour

Don't blame hooligan teenagers for the latest acts of callous stupidity which are occurring in Egerton Park.

Witnesses say the boats have been operated by adults, not immature youngsters.

A long litany of woes have befallen Egerton Park - ranging from persistent and costly vandalism, flooding and anti-social dog-owners who fail to clear up after their pets through to the recent Lottery bid disappointment.

But by far the saddest has been the succession of calamities suffered by the park's resident swans.

Metal fencing had to be erected to prevent idiots stoning the birds while they were nesting on their favourite island.

Attacks by dogs have lost the lives not only of cygnets but of a parent bird.

Now comes a new and refined form of torment. Reports that the swans have been harassed with radio-controlled model boats are disturbing.

Big as they are, the birds have no form of defence against this form of pointless disturbance.

There was a happy era when the park's model boat pond '“ the proper place for such activity '“ was a regular venue for responsible owners whose activities provided a much-appreciated and totally harmless spectacle for by-standers.

There is no excuse for the park's lakes, home to swans, ducks and other wildfowl, being used for the kind of 'sport' now occurring.

The incidents only serve to underline how great the town's loss was when the recent Rother Lottery bid failed.

Egerton Park is an amenity which is much-valued '“ not only by the town community but by the wildfowl which inhabit it.

As Rother District Council correctly identified and as the public warmly endorsed in consultation, the park is ripe for a make-over and investment.

It was the hope of many park-lovers that refurbishment would not only rejuvenate the park's planting and amenities and generate greater use by the public but incorporate better measures for protecting it from abuse.

The more people who use a public area like a park less opportunity there is for abuse to go unobserved.