Views sought on plan to axe rangers

The Scarborough team has had years of success ridding a seaside town's public gardens of yobs and reclaiming them for the public.

The service was due to be scrapped to save 45,000 but was given a year's reprieve after protests by councillors and residents that the rangers partly paid for themselves by deterring vandalism.

Now a review panel for the service has agreed its future should be the subject of a much wider ranging consultation involving all sections of the community.

One idea put forward was that the park rangers could further justify the service by extending it to cover Scarborough's newly revamped Open Air Theatre. The 3.5m makeover was response to years of neglect in which the theatre had been targeted by vandals.

However, task group chairman Coun Tim Lawn said the idea had already been raised with council bosses. He added: "In response to a question regarding security at the Open Air Theatre they didn't believe that this was within the remit of the Parks Rangers Service."