HAMPSHIRE residents have rallied behind a popular children’s park after it fell victim to vandals.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, The Pleasure Park in Southampton Sports Centre has been targeted by vandals five times since the beginning of April.

Now one mother has started a fundraising page to try and raise £5,000 to help maintain the park and repair damage caused by vandals.

Forty-year-old Katherine Hewitt, who has been visiting the park since she was a child, felt compelled to start a justgiving page after she read the article in the Echo.

She said: “The Pleasure Park is a place for normal everyday families that don’t have a lot of money, which is most people now. It is an affordable day out and the children always leave with a smile on their faces.”

Since April, intruders have cut through a fence to gain access, ransacked the site, stolen items and smashed up parts of the site.

The park was opened by the Salter family more than 45 years ago, led by Don and Betty, who ran the park until their death in 2014.

Don and Betty’s sons, Fred and Gary, now manage the site and told the Echo that the current spate of vandalism may lead to the park’s closure.

“Fred and Gary do all of the work themselves and it is about time we all do something to give back and keep it alive,” said mother-of-three Miss Hewitt.

Since the Echo article was published last week, 30 people have so far pledged to support the business.

“I am not asking for people to donate lots of money, I am asking for lots of people to donate a little bit,” added Miss Hewitt.

Fred and Gary, who offer free children’s parties to charities, say they have been overwhelmed by the community support they have received.

Fred said: “Some really positive things have come out of something that was really upsetting.

“We were really happy and grateful when we heard that people wanted to fundraise for us, it shows how loved this little place is.”