Fences call over safety concerns at Market Drayton skate park

People in the town n have raised concerns about the closeness of the skate park to a busy road and the town's swimming pool car park.

Market Drayton Town Council officially opened the new £150,000 skate park last month.

The park, built on land off Newport Road, had been on the cards for a number of years.

However, members of a road safety group and residents have now expressed concerns about the skate park.

The town council today said it will discuss the concerns at a future meeting.

A resident, who did not wished to be named, said: "My children regularly use the skate park and due to it being so close to the swimming pool car park I am worried about an accident happening.

"It would be better if fencing was installed around the park to protect them."

Chris Smith, from the Market Drayton Road Safety Group, said: "Now we have a new skate park a crossing in needed at the bottom of Phoenix Bank.

"We have clocked vehicles doing 70mph going down that road coming into town.

"It is one of the 10th most dangerous roads in Britain and it is very close to the skate park so a crossing needs to be looked at there to prevent any accidents."

Julie Jones, town clerk, said: "We will put the item on the next agenda of a town council committee.

"At the moment The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents guidelines say there shouldn't be fencing round skate parks as it is more dangerous.

"It can cause more damage than good but we take the point the skate park is close to the car park so we will look into it and see what we can do."

The old skate park was replaced with a larger site chosen through consultation with residents.

Local people judged a number of styles and types of ramps.

The project was last year awarded £75,000 from Sports England, while a further £80,000 was pledged towards the scheme by the town council to revamp its 15-year-old facility.

Meanwhile, the town council has also agreed to trial siting a mobile refreshments van adjacent to the skate park.

And new CCTV cameras are being installed at the Newport Road car park which will cover the toilets and the skate park following several incidents of vandalism at the toilets.