Rufford Abbey Country Park: Vandals drain water from lake

Park bosses have no idea who opened the sluice gate

Boating activities had to be cancelled at a country park after a "significant" amount of water was drained from the lake by vandals.

Nottinghamshire County Council said sluice gates at Rufford Abbey were opened overnight between Thursday and Friday, causing water levels to plunge.

Staff were able to halt further water loss but boating had to be suspended over the bank holiday weekend.

The authority said Nottinghamshire Police had been notified.

Rufford Abbey, near Ollerton, is a popular spot for locals

Derek Higton, the council's service director for place and communities, said on Friday morning, park staff had discovered the sluice gates were open and a large amount of water had already been drained from the lake.

"A localised emergency response was initiated, which was able to quickly resolve the immediate issues," he said.

"Inspections revealed that the sluice gates at Rufford Lake were opened by persons unknown overnight on Thursday 28/Friday 29 April.

"Following social media coverage, someone once again accessed the site overnight on Saturday 30 April/Sunday 1 May and closed the sluice gates before a full detailed inspection of them could be completed.

"The county council is currently awaiting the engineers' inspection report to ascertain if any damage has been caused to the sluice gates by these actions.

"Fortunately the impacts of this act of thoughtless vandalism on the ecology of the lake, and the local communities downstream, have been minimal due to the swift actions of the partners involved in the emergency response and ongoing investigations."