Preston City Council and Preston Police are vowing to clear up Moor Park after a break-in at the new cafe and increasing anti-social behaviour.

Rosemary on the Park, which opened in June, was broken into during the early hours of Friday 5 October.

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Owner Kelly Turner announced the break-in on Facebook: “Although good for nothing lazy can’t be bothered to earn a living toe-rags broke into my wonderful cafe last night – they have not kept me and my Team Rosemary down – so all tidied and back to the business of feeding you all.”

Messages of support flooded in from customers, family and friends, as Kelly and her team worked to get the cafe back up and running within a matter of hours.

Read more: New Moor Park cafe prepares for winter after successful summer launch

Kelly said: “CCTV shows three men removing one of the metal grills and the window. They took my laptop and the till draw with my float.

“There is also an increasing amount of what I think is ‘partying’ outside the pavilions after hours. We’re finding a lot of litter including alcohol bottles and illegal smoking accessories.

“I feel this should be looked at so we can find ways to try to prevent these people coming to the area. I have asked the Council if we could have a meeting to look at ways of reducing it, and possibly discussing with the police about patrolling the area more.”

Councillor Nweeda Khan from the Moor Park ward said: “At the last PACT meeting it was noted that there was an increase in burglary/theft and crime in the area, and juvenile nuisance. Residents felt one of the main reasons was the reduced patrolling in the area.

“The response from the Police Community Support Officers was that police staffing issues, shifts, training courses, and dealing with high priority incidents has affected frequency of patrolling in the area.

“As a councillor of the Moor Park ward I would be happy to meet with the owner of the cafe and the PCSOs, with whom we have a good relationship, to see how we could work together to reduce the incidents in any way and identify the offenders.”

Read more: Police release picture of car in connection with Avenham arson

Fellow Moor Park councillor David Borrow added: “The new cafe has been great for the park. I do call in from time to time and I have spoken to Kelly this morning over coffee in the cafe. We discussed the extra security measures that are needed and I have raised this with Environment Cabinet Member Councillor Brian Rollo and the Chief Executive.”

PC Bernie Clark said: “I’ve been to see Kelly at the cafe and I have forwarded this issue to the Sergeant. It is very dark in the park and it could do with more lighting. I’ve requested that we make sure we’re patrolling the park more often in between jobs.

“I’m the local officer but I also cover the rural areas as well now. We need to work as a team so other available officers are aware of situations and we can target areas. That’s why it’s so important for the public to report crime to us.”

Have you noticed an increase in anti-social behaviour in Moor Park? Let us know in the comments below.