UPGRADING a popular playground is being made more difficult because of ongoing vandalism.

Maryport Town Council is making improvements to the Ellenborough Play Area.

This includes improving access and seating arrangements for what can be a difficult site to reach for disabled people and people with pushchairs.

A tarmac path will be installed from the roadside to the play area and the site will benefit from some hard landscaping to provide access to a more suitable seating layout. 

The council's first priority, however, was to remove 'unsavoury' graffiti. 

In a report to council this week, clerks Lisa Douglas and Paul Bramley said this was an ongoing problem and had to be monitored on a weekly basis.

Last month the council found that a roundabout for smaller children had been vandalised and had to be removed and was too costly to fix.

Councillors agreed this week that it will be replaced with a larger one that would be suitable for primary-aged children.

The playground was opened in 2014 but, within three weeks, complaints were already starting to come in.

Councillor Carni McCarron-Holmes described the playground as a 'no-go area' at the time.

Parents of young children were dismayed about the number of teenagers and adults who were taking over the playgrounds in the evenings.

There were regular complaints about empty drink bottles and condoms being discarded where children played.

Swings were being wrapped around their frames to be used as goalposts, which prevented youngsters from using them.

As some of these problems persist in 2023, the council hs asked people to report any vandalism or antisocial behaviour to the police and will ask police to patrol the area.

In the meantime, however, all improvements have been accepted and will be carried out.