| Len Jamieson, treasurer of the Stirling Park Allotments, one of the three associations of gardens on The Law, said the situation was now so disheartening for tenants that many more were giving up completely too.
Last night, three sheds and allotments were deliberately set ablaze, leaving the work of at least one pensioner in ruins.
Firefighters took two hours to put out the flames.
Mr Jamieson said, “Last night was the ninth fire in three years — it is just getting out of control.”
“It is all very heartbreaking. We heard rumours it was a small gang who were responsible for all the fires, but we’ve got no proof. There’s really nothing you can do unless you can catch them in the act.
“I got a call last night from one of the men whose allotment was damaged and he said he had just had enough and would be giving up his allotment.
“We’ve now had five people give up their allotments because of the fires.”
The Stirling Park Allotments are particularly vulnerable because they are surrounded by trees and not easily monitored.
“People can go down the public path between Law Road and Lawton Road and just break in,” said Mr Jamieson.
He added that people were also put off taking on allotments because of the risk of fire. “If they have to rebuild a shed they will have to pay to rebuild it,” he said.
Tayside Police say they will be increasing patrols in Law area to try to combat the problem. |
