A mystery Good Samaritan cleaned up chocolate smears left by vandals on gym equipment at a town centre park, CCTV footage has revealed.
The mess was discovered by a family who visited North Walsham Memorial Park last Sunday, but North Walsham Town Council claimed it had not been reported and council groundsmen who inspected the park on Monday found no sign of chocolate.
But the mystery has now been solved - council workers later found CCTV footage of the incident, which showed a group of teenagers smashing a pot of chocolate spread and smearing it on equipment at around 12.45pm.
And shortly after 4pm, a man in a Norwich City football shirt was recorded using wet wipes to clean up the mess while his children played in the park.
A North Walsham Town Council spokesman said: “I was off on Monday, but when I came in on Tuesday I checked the CCTV and watched the incident and saw it being smeared at 1pm and then at 4pm some nice chap cleared it all off.
“Obviously nobody went on it for a few hours because it was all smeared in chocolate, but that didn’t deter someone because they just went and got some wet wipes and wiped it all down so the kids could go on it.
“We haven’t found the person who cleaned it yet, no one has come forward, some people have shared it across social media but we still don’t know who he was.”
In a Facebook post the town council thanked the man for his efforts and added: “For your public spirit, we salute you.”
The CCTV footage has now been passed onto police.
The sticky mess at the park covered the seats and handles of the equipment, making it unusable. Broken glass was also found on the ground.
Outdoor gym equipment was installed at the Memorial Park in August 2019 by North Walsham Play in collaboration with the town council in order to address the lack of fitness equipment in the area.
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