Oxfordshire County Council owned buildings vandalised 40 times over three years.
The buildings vandalised include the Central Library at the Westgate
Last updated 8th Aug 2025
Buildings owned by Oxfordshire County Council have been vandalised 40 times over the course of three years.
Emergency repairs to council buildings, including the Central Library at the Westgate in Oxford, have cost the authority more than £86,000 since 2023, a Freedom of Information has shown.
The figures also show there were 40 instances where the council had to repair its buildings where the root cause was vandalism.
A spokesperson for the county council said it was “regrettable” for taxpayers’ money to be spent in this way.
The buildings vandalised include the Central Library at the Westgate and Speedwell House in Oxford, the former Faringdon Infant School, Mill Arts Centre in Banbury, and 40 The Moors Children’s Home in Kidlington.
This comes after an arson attack on one of the boardwalks at the Lye Valley Nature Reserve, which left it unusable and badly damaged.
Oxford City Council, which maintains the walkway, confirmed vandals had set fire to it and the authority is waiting for a quote for how much the repairs will cost.
Although the walkway is closed, the wider nature reserve remains open to the public.
Barley Hill County Primary School in Thame, which is maintained by the local authority, faced a £400 bill after the electric gates to the school were vandalised.
Responding to the statistics, a spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: “The county council is responsible a huge variety and large number of buildings including social care facilities, libraries, highways depots, registration service buildings, fire stations and offices.
“We have a robust maintenance programme but for any organisation unforeseen repair work will inevitably occasionally be required.
“Given the very large nature of the council’s property estate this level of repair-work is not out of proportion.
“It is always regrettable when taxpayer’s money has to be spent on rectifying damage after thoughtless vandalism.”
The cost of emergency repairs caused by vandalism is difficult to isolate, as many of the repairs were undertaken by the council’s in-house maintenance team.
The council spent £10.362.62 of the total £86, 708 on paying external contractors to deal with the repairs.
In total there were 797 instances where the council had to undertake emergency repairs to its buildings.
The most common cause for buildings needing repairs were mechanical defects, which accounted for 166 of instances.
Other reasons for the repairs included fire safety, accidental damage, storm damage, and safety.
So far this year there have been 73 emergency repairs costing the county council £8,125.66.
In 2023 the council spent £37,610.08 repairs, and in 2024 they spent £40,972.30.