ANGRY parish councillors are calling for action to be taken at a problem play area in Tiptree.

Colchester Council has refused to adopt the playground, in Caxton Close, from developer, Taylor Wimpey, as it claims the site is not up to standard.

Now Tiptree Parish Council wants the developer to keep the play area clean and raise the height of fences to stop youths from getting into the site at night.

Parish councillor Nick Mattinson said: “The kids and teenagers want somewhere to go at night, and on the whole they are OK, but a minority drink in there and damage play equipment.

“There is also only one bin and it is an absolute mess as the developer, who is responsible for keeping it clean, only does so from time to time.

“The fence is only 4ft high, so we want them to raise the height so, when it is adopted, it can be locked at night.”

Mr Mattinson said he would like to see a 6ft fence put up, similar to that elsewheree.

He said some youngsters drank alcohol at the site until 3am and disturbed residents living close to the park, which is intended for children up to the age of 12.

He added: “Young children should be able to go to a nice play area in the summer.

“With all the rubbish that piles up, there will be rats as well.”

Mr Mattinson said youths had vandalised a swing and wooden play equipment, as well as trampling flower beds as they jumped over the fence.

The developer wants to close the site to repair damage, but Mr Mattinson said he would like to see the fence and bins put in before the site was adopted, otherwise the borough council would be forced to fork out for repairs if it suffered the same problems.

The play area was built by the developer as part of the Caxton Close development in 2001, which has yet to be adopted as a whole by Colchester Council.