FRIENDS of Weymouth schoolgirl Robyn Nixon are devastated the council has refused to let them site a memorial at her favourite place.

Family, school friends and members of the community worked hard and gave generously to raise £1,500 for two benches as a lasting tribute to the tragic teenager who died in April this year.

They held cake sales, a Virgin Vie party and collections in the hope of being able to site a memorial at the Nothe Gardens where they could sit and remember the ‘beautiful, funny’ 15-year-old.

Now they are shocked that the parks department of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has refused to allow a bench, plaque or memorial tree at the gardens.

The council also refused alternative options of the Rodwell Trail or at Three-Post Beach due to the ‘extreme popularity’ of its donated seat and tree schemes in those areas.

Danielle Smart, 16, of Westham, said: “I’m gutted to be honest, I really think it’s stupid and pathetic they can’t do it.

“It made me really upset because I’d been thinking it would be really nice for us to do this and they just deny it.

“So many people donated money and the Nothe Gardens is where we all used to come out with Robyn on Friday nights and also on Tuesday nights with Steps Youth Club. It’s important to us – just coming up here, knowing she’s sort of with you.”

Tom Dent, 16, of Littlemoor, said: “We really want it and it would make us happier.

“Somewhere we can all group up and remember her, just sit down and remember her where she was happy.”

Amber Downing, 16, of Wyke Regis, added: “I’ve personally got lots of memories of her here.

“It would be nice to come down here and have part of her with me in one of her favourite places. It would be nice to watch over the sea where she used to swim because then I can picture it and it helps.”

Robyn’s mum Sue Nixon, 54, of Wyke Regis, said the £1,500 was raised by commission from a Virgin Vie party, cake sales and ‘just the general public being very kind.’ She said: “I’d particularly like to thank all the guys at Bee Cars, who are like an extended family to us.

“I work there and they’ve been our rock, especially Sue Hall – the support and love she showed to us as a family was unbelievable.”

The community has rallied around since their beloved ‘baby girl’ took her own life after suffering 18 months of ‘psychological bullying’ by former school friends and then a break-up with her boyfriend.

Hundreds of bunches of flowers were left at the multi-storey car park in Lower St Alban Street where Robyn died and Elise Services has provided a sign at the car park, which says ‘In loving memory of Robyn Danielle Nixon, Forget Me Not.’ But Mrs Nixon said they also hoped to have a memorial where her daughter had been happy.

A special family bench has been ordered to go at ‘Robyn’s bed’ – Mrs Nixon’s name for her daughter’s final resting place at Wyke Regis Cemetery – and Robyn’s friends hoped to situate another at the Nothe Gardens.

Mrs Nixon said: “I was quite shocked when the parks department at the council did say no.

“I called them about other options like a tree or a plaque at Nothe Gardens, or along the Rodwell Trail or Three-Post Beach which were Robyn’s other favourite places but they said no.

“They said the only place we could have a bench is along Radipole Park Drive but that’s got no relevance to Robyn at all.”

Robyn’s eldest sister Tania Cox said: “As a family, obviously we’re going to have a bench with Robyn but for the kids it’s really important to have somewhere they can go.

“Teenagers don’t always want to go somewhere like a graveyard, so it would be lovely to have somewhere that Robyn liked that they can sit, remember her and think about the good times.

“The Nothe Gardens would be the best place, Robyn used to go there all the time.”

The family has decided that if the remaining £750 cannot be spent on a memorial at Robyn’s favourite places, it will be donated to the Special Baby Care Unit (SBCU) at Poole Hospital where Robyn was born five-and-a-half weeks early.

Mrs Nixon added: “We wouldn’t have had her without them so it’s very special to us.”

Steps youth worker Tom Lane said: “Robyn was a real angel, a lovely local girl and it would be really nice to find a suitable way for her family and friends to celebrate her life in a positive way.”

Councillor Geoff Petherick, chairman of the management committee of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said: “The council expresses its sympathy to the family, but finds itself to be in a very difficult position.

“The council’s donated seat and tree schemes have proved extremely popular over the years leaving just Radipole Gardens or Chesil Esplanade, as the only areas remaining available. “The council has already been unable to comply with up to 50 requests specifically for the Nothe Gardens, so it would be incredibly unfair to those families, some of whom have also experienced sad or tragic losses, to discover that we are now installing a new seat in response to this or any other request.”