Rabbit, dog and duck damaged at Carlisle's £50,000 pop-up park

A pop-up park in the centre of Carlisle that cost £50,000 has been damaged again.

A rabbit made out of artificial turf has had its ear broken off - while a dog and a duck have been removed for repairs after they also suffered damage.

Carlisle City Council had installed the new temporary park next to the Old Town Hall as a place "to relax, eat, drink and socialise".

But today council officials admitted that it had been attacked, despite having installed new CCTV to cover the area.

The duck had previously been damaged not long after the installation was put in place last month.

The council said that many of the items in the temporary installation have been designed so they can be re-used elsewhere.

It was installed under what the council has called "Greening the Greenmarket" which is part of a government scheme to bring shoppers back into the high street following the relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions.

In total the council has been given £96,000 of funding - other things the council has invested in are the Hawker’s Market last year and a temporary business on-line support hub.

Council bosses say that the damaged rabbit will stay on the site for the time being and will be repaired at a later date.

A Carlisle City Council spokesperson said: "The new temporary site provides additional seating for shoppers and visitors to the city.

"It is already in use and was in place in advance of the Easter International Market which attracted thousands of visitors to the city."The funding to set up the site came from government. The Welcome Back Fund supported local authorities to develop plans for responding to the medium-term impact of Covid-19 including trialling new ideas particularly where these relate to the High Street.

"The funding could only be used for non-permanent public realm adaptations to boost the look and feel of the high streets"The items making up the temporary installation have been designed and procured in such a way that they can be re-used elsewhere in the city centre or on council green spaces as required."Two parts of the site have been removed by the council and are undergoing repairs following damage. CCTV covers the site and any damage to the site has been reported to Cumbria Police."