Idiotic vandals start fire under life-saving equipment at waterside beauty spot in Milton Keynes

Vandals have once more struck at the Bletchley’s Blue Lagoon, this time starting a fire directly under special life-saving equipment.

The emergency throwline was only installed by the council last month, intended to help anyone who got into trouble in the water.

It was mounted on a special wooden stand with clear instructions on how to use it.

But during last week’s heatwave, a mountain of rubbish was dumped right underneath it – and was then set on fire.

The action has enraged members of the Facebook Group called Keeping the Blue Lagoon Beautiful, which was set up to arrange regular litter picks of the wildlife haven.

Their spokesperson Terry Stephens said: The Blue Lagoon is enjoyed by many people who use it for recreational walks to enjoy the scenery or their health and wellbeing.

"Sadly, even though MK City Council has invested money to improve access through the new redway and car park, people still think it’s acceptable to leave bags of litter underneath the emergency throwline, which encourages other anti-social behaviour such as arson.

"This really is selfish and we need to encourage visitors to love the Blue Lagoon and only leave memories, not rubbish or anything else that might harm the wildlife or other users’ experiences.”

The Facebook group has more than 500 members and they regularly collect up to a dozen bin bags full of litter from the venue, which is near Drayton Road.

The Blue Lagoon was created from clay pits from a former brickworks site and the surrounding woodland to be a haven for wildlife.

It is home to foxes, grey squirrel, muntjac deer, rabbits, grass snakes and Great Crested Newts as well as rare bird species including willow warblers, whitethroats, woodpeckers and grasshopper warblers.

It gets its name from the water in its largest and deepest pit, which turns a magnificent shade of blue in the right light.

Sadly it had been the scene of several arson attacks over the years and all have destroyed wildlife habitats.

Several years ago a safety sign was put up, warning visitors that the water is deep and under no circumstances should anyone swim in it.

The sign was vandalised just two days later.