Alan Swann with some temporary barriers

MEMBERS of a community garden are feeling “a mixture of disbelief and outrage” after finding themselves the victim of a “brazen” theft.

Gardeners at the Sunnyside Gardens near Hornsey Rise were shocked to find their large garden gates had been stolen earlier this month.

“They were put in five years ago when we renovated this part of the garden,” said Alan Swann, a community gardener.

“We managed to raise some money for them. We had precautions against them being stolen, the hinges had a security feature.”

Lunchtime at Sunnyside Gardens

But these fastenings on the gates have been sawn through.

“They would have had a battery-operated angle grinder to cut through it,” Mr Swann said.

“We’re feeling a mixture of disbelief and outrage that somebody could be so brazen to come along – it would have been daylight, they probably weren’t doing it during the night – and just lift the gates and take them away.”

He added: “Now we need to raise money so we can replace them. It’s very important we have gates, otherwise we’ll get people dumping stuff – that used to be a problem in the past.”

Sunnyside Gardens are now looking to raise about £1,000 to replace the lost gates.