A SKATEPARK that was destroyed by vandals on a tipper truck is set for a six-figure revamp.

Eastleigh Borough Council has announced it will be allocating £150,000 to transform Freespace Skatepark - and the budget could be set to increase.

In 2020, the park in Chandler's Ford was subject to a number of vandalism attacks.

In September, a car was dumped in the bowl and set alight by criminals, which left the park almost unusable.

Pieces of broken glass and debris were strewn along the bottom posing a risk to anyone who tried to use it.

The car was left at the site for a number of days before it was removed.

READ MORE: PHOTOS: Car driven on to skatepark, torched and then dumped

A few months later, in November, vandals riding a stolen tipper truck targeted the park.

The culprits stole the machine from the nearby Village Hotel development before causing "considerable damage and destruction" to the park and ramps.

The vandals used the vehicle to push the skate ramps around the park, destroying grass, fences and facilities.

One of the ramps was shunted and the tipper was then driven into the bowl and abandoned.

The council was forced to close the area.

READ MORE: Popular skate park destroyed using digger possibly stolen from construction site

In recent weeks, the park was taken over by a group of travellers with 12 caravans and around 24 other vehicles setting up camp.

The money the council will spend on upgrading the park is part of a £7.5 million investment into local community facilities.

But the local authority said it is "exploring further funding opportunities to increase the scale of the project".

The designs for the park are yet to be released but a project manager has been allocated.

A spokesperson from the council told the Daily Echo: "There is funding in place for the Freespace Skatepark and a project manager is in the process of delivering the scheme, that includes exploring further funding opportunities to increase the scale of the project, before we work up new designs.

"We will carry out further user consultation on any proposed designs and we will then be tendering for a contractor to carry out the works."

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