Treasure fans cause a 'hole' lot of trouble at Shrewsbury beauty spot

Employees working for Shrewsbury Town Council had noticed a number of mysterious holes appearing in recreation grounds across the town over the past few months.

On investigation, it has become clear that they are man-made by people hunting historic artefacts.

The holes have been discovered at the Quarry Park and Radbrook Recreation Ground.

Due to concerns that someone could trip on one of the holes and hurt themselves, the council is now set to discuss the creation of a metal detecting policy at the August 5 meeting of its recreation committee.

Helen Ball, town council clerk, said people had been digging the holes and not bothering to fill them up after they had finished searching for potential treasure.

Denies

She said: "Over a period of time we have had a number of instances on some of our recreation grounds and the Quarry, where holes have been dug and it is clearly someone who is using a metal detector.

"They have dug up the ground and left the holes and wandered off."

Mrs Ball said one person had been approached about the use of a metal detector on council maintained grounds and had insisted they had rights to dig the holes, something the council denies.

The town clerk said that the new policy would reinforce the authority's current stance on the practice which is designed to prevent residents and visitors getting injured – and avoid the authority becoming the subject of any potential legal action.

Mrs Ball continued: "It is really just about enforcing the council's position in terms of metal detecting.

"It is something we cannot support.

"It is a liability issue. If someone goes and digs a six-inch hole and someone falls in and breaks their ankle, who will be liable? It is not the person who is doing the metal detecting, it would be us."

Mrs Ball added: "It is about preserving the recreation space for everyone so they can use it safely."