THOUGHTLESS vandals had caused damage to bus shelters and people who had seen the young hooligans committing the damage had failed to report what happened to the police.

People waiting for buses in the wet weather of the past fortnight had suffered.

According to one local councillor it was not surprising that people had failed to carry out a public duty because of what might happen.

Speaking at a meeting of the Barry Parliamentary and General Purposes Committee on Thursday the newly elected councillor, Brian Dixon said he had reported an incident with the result that windows of his house had been smashed.

Later, Cllr Dixon told a reporter that for almost two years his home in West Walk, Barry, had been the target for vandals, who had taken reprisals when he was not at home. Windows had been smashed, the gate torn off its hinges, milk bottles smashed, his car scratched and his family terrorised when he was working at night.

“Youngsters rattle the windows, bang on the door and then run away,” he said.

“The people were scared to co-operate with the police,” he said. But they were wasting their time victimising him. “They won’t stop me or my wife reporting anyone,” he declared.

The committee were considering a letter from the Barry Vigilante Association in which the committee was asked, in considering sites for bus stops, to take into account the provision of shelters and safety barriers, the minimum inconvenience and danger to the public and damage to property, and the elimination of road traffic hazards. The letter claimed that these important factors had been overlooked when selecting the present bus stops in Tynewydd Road.

Ald. Brinley Williams said he would welcome the interest of the Vigilantes in another direction - there was hardly a shelter in the town which had not been damaged, especially in the Colcot area. If the Vigilantes try to find out who was doing the damage, they would be kept busy for a long time.

Cllr Graham Hellstrom asked what the council itself was doing about the matter.

The Deputy Borough Engineer (D.G. Evans) said they had tried methods to prevent damage to shelters, but they were all going the same way. Mr Evans said frames were being knocked out.