Popular play area to close

Mother Sara Hamlet says it will be a real loss

Parents in Peterborough are angry about a decision to close a popular play area in the city.

Families living in Norburn in the Bretton area had orginally asked for safety improvements at the play area.

But Peterborough City Council has said it would cost too much to bring it up to European safety rules standards.

Mothers in Norburn say they have made the area the heart of the community.

"If this goes it will be a real loss as the kids will have nowhere to play," said Sara Hamlet.

Too expensive

"They've made friends out here and it means the nearest place they can play is Bretton Park.

"It is over a dozen roads to get there and nowhere near where we can keep an eye on them."

The council said it was reviewing more than 300 play areas to see where the available money should be spent.

Spokeswoman Elaine Jewell said the work would simply too expensive.

"To make this play area safe would cost about £25,000.

"Our annual budget for improvements is about £50,000 and we can't really justify spending that much on one play area."