LEDBURY residents are questioning the wisdom of turning a remote woodland glade into a public picnic area, after one of three new table benches was set alight by vandals.

One idea being looked into by town councillors is to install CCTV camera on trees to cover the so-called "cricket pitch" area of Dog Hill Wood, which the council owns.

But ahead of a site visit on Wednesday to inspect the damage, and with the issue set to come before town councillors at a meeting on Thursday evening, a leading councillor was questioning even the wisdom of using public money to replace or repair the fire damaged picnic bench, which was worth around £300.

Cllr Tony Bradford, chairman of the town's environment and leisure committee said that he had spoken to at least seven councillors who agreed with him.

He said: "They are not keen to replace the bench. The vandalism will happen again, and we are talking about public money."

Concerning the vandalism, Cllr Bradford added: "The mind boggles. We spend public money on a area to be used by families, and this happens."

Cllr Bradford's position was echoed on the Facebook site, The Voice of Ledbury, where the issue was discussed by local residents.

Susan Gardner Roberts said: "I agree the idea of a picnic area is lovely; but when public money is spent, all possibilities of maintenance, prevention of vandalism and upkeep costs should have been taken into account.

"I know the council are not responsible for the vandals' actions, but hanging a carrot in front of the donkey seems a little too much like tempting fate."

Katherine Gladwin said the fault certainly didn't lie with the town council.

She said: "I think a picnic bench was a lovely idea. Why does someone's stupidity always become the fault of the council?"

But some residents questioned whether the isolated spot is a suitable spot for a public picnic area.

Russ Smith said of the vandalism: "To be honest, I'm not surprised; it was always likely to happen. But then putting benches up there was always a stupid idea.

"I think picnic benches would be better placed in the Walled Garden, being a more accessible place closer to the town centre."

Andrew Findlay questioned the suitability of the benches that were installed.

He said: "There is a huge choice of specially designed vandal resistant public furniture available to local authorities. Using anything else in a remote public spot is pretty dim really."

Cllr Martin Eager, who was chairman of the environment and leisure committee when councillors voted to install the benches, condemned the "pointless vandalism" but added: "I don't want the benches taken out. I want to protect the area."

He suggested installing CCTV on the trees, which could cost less than £1000 "for an excellent system".

Ledbury's mayor, Cllr Elaine Fieldhouse said the vandalism was "a real shame", but she added: "I think it would be a real shame not to replace the bench. We could look at something that's fire retardant."