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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Haroon Siddique

Razor blades found attached to children's slide in Lancashire

Blades attached to the side of the children’s slide at the Winifred Lane play area in Aughton.
Blades attached to the side of the children’s slide at the Winifred Lane play area in Aughton. Photograph: Ormskirk and Burscough police

Razor and scalpel blades have been discovered attached to the side of a children’s slide in west Lancashire.

Ormskirk and Burscough police said the blades were found on Friday morning at the Winifred Lane play area in Aughton.

The force posted a video on Facebook showing the razor blades attached apparently using sticky tape.

A spokesperson said: “We would ask everyone to be vigilant and check any play equipment before you let your child use it … If anyone has any information about this we’d urge them to contact us as soon as possible. Whoever did this could have caused serious injury to a child – please be assured we are fully investigating this matter.”

By Sunday morning more than 2,000 people had commented on the Facebook post, mostly expressing their horror at the discovery and demanding stiff penalties for whoever placed them there.

Stephen Davis wrote: “I was horrified when I read this. These people have very serious problems. I hope no kids were hurt.”

Angela King said: “This is awful. Make[s] me feel sad that someone would think of doing this, let alone actual doing it … just horrible.”

Doreen Stephenson, a councillor for Aughton Park, told the BBC the culprits were a “disgrace”, adding: “It’s quite frightening to think what the consequences could be … I can’t believe anybody would stoop so low to do something like this in a public children’s play area.”

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