A COUNCIL and the users of an award-winning skate park are at loggerheads over who is to blame for its decay.

The facility in Clitheroe Castle has been the subject of vandalism, but youngsters claim that Ribble Valley Council don't maintain it properly either.

The users have claimed that cheap replacement wood for the ramps breaks too quickly and the council is too quick to blame vandals, instead of wear and tear.

This has left Graham Jagger, Clitheroe Castle Engineer, feeling 'insulted' and he said money had been spent on five occasions to fix the skatepark.

He added that he had written to Trinity Community Centre, Clitheroe, who organised the skatepark project, to ask them if they thought it had been successful.

He warned that many people felt it should be removed for something that costs less and is easier to maintain.

Trinity passed on the maintenance of the skatepark to the council over a year ago.

"I feel insulted that they are saying we don't maintain this," Mr Jagger said. "We will repair something when it's broken and at great cost." They cannot explain what they mean by this maintenance.

"Trinity Community Centre had it built. If they complain about cheap wood then it started with them.

"Youngsters are picking up lumps of rocks and throwing them against the ramps. It's definitely vandalism. I don't know who the vandals are."

"There is a feeling that this a waste of public money. We could put the money into something that is more appreciated."

The skatepark in Clitheroe Castle was constructed two years ago with the aim of giving children a boredom-beating alternative to problems like drug use.

In November 1999, two months after it opened, it was runner-up in the Government's Peter Lawrence Awards, which recognise exceptional community work by young people in memory of the murdered headmaster.

Steve Procter, of the Community Centre, organised the project. He said that the park has been that popular the council weren't ready for the amount of maintenance it would need.

He said: "The damage is caused by a lot of use. The young people feel very annoyed that the council have announced they might close the park because of vandalism.

"It's deteriorating because it's not maintained. If it was given a once-over and repaired back to how it was when it was built, it could be a great place to be again.

"It is a shame the council has branded the people who use the park as vandals." The skaters want the park to be given a make-over to restore it to the original standard, and for a worker to maintain it every so often.

Warren Balarangit, 17, of Waterloo Road, Clitheroe, uses the park every day, and has done since it was opened. He said: "The boards are not being maintained, they go through too easily. It's two or three weeks since they repaired them and they are worn already."

"It also needs someone to come and inspect it every day to see what is happening."

Lee Creighton, 16, Whittle Close, Clitheroe, is another regular user of the park.

He said: "The park is still a great idea but the council doesn't do anything to maintain it. Young people want to use it, but the wood they use is cheap."

David Livesey, 14, St. James' Street, Clitheroe, said: "I can't skate on it anymore because it's cheap wood, and is worn out already. I used to go on it every day." Steven Wilson, 16, Pimlico Road, Clitheroe, said: "It's difficult to skate on at the moment because of the cheap wood. Vandalism is not the problem."