A STOURBRIDGE teenager has been slapped with a community order and £550 court bill after driving a dumper truck around Mary Stevens Park.

Unemployed Scott Beaman has been ordered to carry out 40 hours of supervised unpaid work within the next 12 months for taking the three tonne vehicle without consent and causing substantial damage in March this year while the Norton park was undergoing landscaping work as part of a lottery funded restoration project.

The 19-year-old, from Penfields Road, was also ordered by Dudley magistrates to pay £330 compensation, court costs of £135 and a victim surcharge of £85 - after pleading guilty to criminal damage.

He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months as a result of the incident which caused damage to a basketball post and potted plants.

Another teenager arrested on the same evening also admitted his part in the damage caused and accepted a community resolution to complete a day’s work at the park.

Acting Detective Sergeant Matt Nightingale, from Dudley, said: "This was a senseless, destructive act which caused damage to park furniture and several plants as well as the damage caused by the tyres of the truck.

"Mary Stevens Park is a beautiful place for local residents and it’s upsetting when it is vandalised in such a manner."