Cost to repair damaged Thatcham play area revealed

BMW ploughed into park where teenagers were sitting

IT WILL cost more than £2,000 to repair the damage caused by a car that smashed into a Thatcham park.

Five teenagers and a woman were nearly hit by a BMW M5 after it came off The Moors and ploughed into the Moors Recreation Park on August 17.

The car took out a lamp post and crashed through the wooden fencing before ploughing into a bench where the teenagers had been sitting just moments before.

The male driver and female passenger then fled the scene, leaving Thatcham Town Council to pick up the cost for the damaged park.

Thames Valley Police told the this week that they were investigating the crash and that no one had been arrested.

This week the town council’s deputy clerk, Mel Alexander, said that it would cost “in the region of £2,500 to repair the damage”.

Mrs Alexander said that the town council was waiting for a final quote from the authority’s insurers and had to seek three quotes in order to get the best value.

When asked if the repairs would be paid for by the driver’s insurance, Mrs Alexander said that the town council did not have third party details but did have a crime reference number.

Speaking at a recent meeting town councillor Ellen Crumly (Con, Thatcham Central) asked whether the fencing around the park “should be made stronger to stop a car going through it”.

Councillors then discussed the findings of a West Berkshire Council report on speeding in the area, which found that drivers stuck to the 30mph limit.

Mrs Crumly said it appeared to her that traffic stuck to the limit, although she said she didn’t go down there unless she was canvassing.

When asked by the about stronger fencing Mrs Alexander said that the fence would be replaced like-for-like.