Stolen coinbox from Melton toilets found dumped in river

Members of Melton and Oakham Waterways Society (MOWS) made the discovery while cleariing rubbish and cutting back overhanging branches from the River Eye.

The Wilton Road loos are currently out of action following two separate attacks in December and last month by vandals and the coinbox, which still had money in it, is understood to have been removed during the second of these incidents.

It appears that the thieves carried the steel box to the Memorial Gardens, in the grounds of Egerton Lodge, and then dumped it in the river when they were unable to break it open.

MOWS chair, Mick Clowes, said: “Only a corner of the coinbox was sticking out of the water and because it is quite heavy it was quite a struggle to get it onboard.

“It has a solid padlock on it and this appears to have defeated the thieves from getting at the coins inside.”

The coinbox has been handed over to Melton Borough Council, which owns and manages the Wilton Road toilet block.

A Melton Council spokeswoman told us: “I can confirm that one of the coinboxes from the Wilton Road toilets has been found and returned to us, thanks to the volunteers at Melton and Oakham Waterways.

“The coinboxes are designed to be robust in order to prevent access to their contents and this has prevented any coins being taken.

“We take vandalism very seriously and are working with the police, who have our CCTV footage, to resolve this incident.”

She added: “The repair work on the Wilton road toilets is due to start next week.

“We apologise for the inconvenience this criminal damage has caused and will update residents on the reopening of the toilets through our social media channels.”

MOWS members are sending out regular work parties on the river to keep it clear as part of their plans to introduce hire boats and, ultimately, open the entire 16-mile Melton Navigation to the national canal network at Syston, as existed in the 1800s.

Most of the rubbish collection consists of bottles and assorted rubbish but on one stretch at the bottom of Dalby Road the bank is frequently covered in disposable gloves blown from the nearby BP petrol filling station.

“This has become quite a serious problem now,” added Mick.

“More people have used the gloves during the pandemic but the problem is that they don’t make sure they are securely in a rubbish bin when they have used them. “Not only it is unsightly, but they blow into the water and are a danger to fish and other wildlife.

“It doesn’t matter how often we clear up, there’s always loads for us to do.”