CAMPAIGNERS fighting to rejuvenate Faringdon Road Park hope the first of eight new vandal-proof benches is the start of a new era for the site.

Coun John Taylor (Lab, Central) joined a small group of residents to celebrate the installation of the steel and hardwood Glasdon bench, one of eight to be installed by Swindon Council at a cost of £5,200 over the next two years.

Faringdon Road Park has become notorious in recent years as a hotspot for drunkenness, drug abuse, assaults and sex offences and Swindon Council approved the installation of the benches after less robust ones had been repeatedly vandalised and destroyed.

Cambria Place resident Joan Bagwell, 62, asked for the benches at a meeting of the Central Area Panel last year.

She said she was relieved the first bench was in place and looked forward to a positive future for the park.

She added: "There was a park keeper here all the time who did everything. He was jolly good and it's just a shame he's not here today."

Her husband Eric Bagwell, 62, said: "It is an encouraging sign of the council's interest at last.

"The park has been neglected for decades yet it is the oldest park in town. It was built by Brunel, who diverted the River Fleet underneath it, hence Fleet Street. There used to be a bandstand and a fountain and a rose garden."

Neville Kirby, 68, of Oxford Street, Railway Village, said: "Hundreds of children come here in spring, summer and autumn, yet the toilets are in a poor state and there are needles in the bushes, some of which I have disposed of myself. I would like to see a warden here to keep it nice for everybody to use."

Coun Taylor said: "This is the first of eight benches, as well as improvements to the toilets and improved lighting in Church Place and the Railway Village.

"We have gone for quality benches like those in Queen's Park and Old Town. It is the people who use Faringdon Park in transit who vandalise it, because they have no respect for the park."

Last year local residents held a fun day to reclaim the park for themselves after a series of attacks in the area.

Labour activist David Nash added: "This is an example of how politicians and local residents can come together to achieve something valuable."