Woodpecker blamed for vandalising Derby zipwire

A community group is fundraising for a new zipwire after the old one was damaged by a woodpecker.

Derby City Council staff removed the play equipment from Sinfin Moor Park and Nature Reserve after spotting a hole.

It said the bird had made "a good meal" out of a wooden centre strut that helped to support the cable.

The Friends of Sinfin Moor Park and Nature Reserve group said it would cost about £18,000 to replace.

Colin Attenborough, who chairs the group, said no-one had seen the suspect woodpecker but they were sure it was the culprit.

"It was a wooden apparatus," he said.

"It was a fantastic zipwire - children from everywhere came along to it.

"The equipment is checked regularly and there was this big hole that this woodpecker had made.

"He must have been low flying for weeks."

The zipwire was removed last year due to safety concerns and Mr Attenborough said they then discovered the posts had also gone rotten in the ground.

"Woody the woodpecker may have done us a favour," he added.

The group has contributed £3,000 of its money towards a replacement zipwire and it has secured £10,000 of lottery funding.

Mr Attenborough hoped the community would help them raise the remaining funds.

To the disappointment of the resident woodpecker, he said the new zipwire would be made from metal.

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