Morden residents were shocked to find the grass in their local park churned up after an obstacle race.
Tough Mudder races were held at Morden Park over Friday and Saturday last week.
Locals have taken to social media to complain about the state of the park in the wake of the event.
Jez Clark, who visits Morden Park most days with his son, couldn’t believe the damage to the grass. He fears it will take many months to repair.
He says he spotted the deep muddy tracks in the grass in the week before the event when Tough Mudder was setting up.
“Normally they put a temporary hard surface to reduce the damage but they were just ploughing the grass up,” said Jez.
“They have completely trashed the central historic part by the bandstand there are really deep muddy tracks.
“I am no expert, but even if they start trying to make it look better it is going to be like this for months. The whole park is covered in burrows it just looks horrible.”
Locals were upset to see the park had been damaged after the Tough Mudder event
(Image: Jez Clark)
Other locals shared pictures on social media of the damage in Morden Park.
In response to one, local councillor Jenifer Gould tweeted: “Shocking lack of Care! Residents distressed by the damage to Morden Park.”
A spokesperson for Tough Mudder blamed heavy rainfall in the run up to the event for the damage.
They said: “Tough Mudder is aware of the condition of the grounds in Morden Park after its event last weekend and is currently in discussions with the council about this to ensure it is appropriately rectified.
“Unfortunately the grounds became heavily saturated following extensive rainfall in the lead up to the event and despite a number of mitigating measures that were put in place, some heavy trafficked areas – such as those park access routes as highlighted in the images and videos shared on Twitter – have been left in need of remediation.
“Whilst it is the request of the council to directly handle any remediation work, Tough Mudder’s remains duty bound to support them where required and wishes to return the park to the state in which it was prior.”
When events are held in parks, a deposit has to paid which is only returned if it can be returned to the original state.
A Merton Council spokesperson said: “In our recent engagement, residents told us that they wanted their parks to be used for community activities.
“Following the Tough Mudder event in Morden Park last weekend, we are checking to see if any lasting damage has been done to the small area of the park where mud has been churned up. If so, we would deduct the cost of returning the park to its natural state from the organiser’s deposit.”
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https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/south-london-park-churned-up-21860948
