Newquay Town Council has announced the temporary closing of a skate park due to an unauthorised application of a lacquer.

According to an announcement made by the Town Council yesterday (Oct 7), a safety inspection on Concrete Waves has revealed a high risk of injury due to a sealant substance that changes the characteristics of the park's riding surfaces.

In the update, Newquay Town Council said: "To maintain our rigorous safety standards, we recently undertook an independent Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents safety inspection report, the results of which deemed the park to provide a high risk of injury.

"This is due to a sealant substance that has been applied to parts of the park, changing the friction characteristics of the riding surfaces.

"This application has made the surfaces unnecessarily slippery for users, especially BMX and small and hard wheeled skateboarders.

"It also greatly increases the time it takes for the surfaces to dry, thus making the park susceptible to retaining water and flooding.

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"In short, application of this lacquer has meant there is now a significant risk of serious injury to users, including and especially head injury, as well as limiting usage time."

The Town Council also advised that this application had been done without their knowledge or consent, and that the matter has now kicked off a police and legal investigation.

"This lacquer was applied to the park by a third-party individual without our prior required consent, authority or knowledge and this sudden alteration to the facility’s structure means our insurance has now been invalidated.

"This is now an ongoing police and legal matter, of which we are unable to comment further.

"With this in mind, temporarily closing the facility was the only feasible option for us at this difficult time.

"This has not been a decision that we have taken lightly and we would like to assure Newquay that we are doing all we can within our power to ensure a swift reopening."

The Packet will update this story as and when more information and developments unfold.