Just three days after a £73,000 multi-use games area was unveiled at Tarring Recreation Ground last month, graffiti had been sprayed on the walls and two pieces of fitness equipment had been made unusable.

The damaged fitness equipment was initially blamed entirely on vandals, but Worthing Borough Council parks manager Chris Bradley said this week there was a chance some inner bolts could have been loose on one of the pieces.

He said: "The contractors installed the equipment and followed the manufacturer's instructions to the word.

"This was then checked by an independent examiner who came up with no faults."

Mr Bradley blamed the damage on "over zealous use" but added: "It may have been some (bolts] working loose under the caps which no-one would have been aware of."

Mr Bradley went on to say the bolts could have started to loosen through use or that "maybe someone started to fiddle with it".

He added: "We cannot say whether it could have given rise to injury – thankfully, it didn't.

"Everything we have been able to glean we have shared with the manufacturers and we expect their instructions to be modified as a result."


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