PARK bosses have been accused of giving in to vandals after six Darlington play areas were chosen for closure.

As part of its strategy for outdoor play areas, Darlington Borough Council has written to residents asking for their opinions on the future of the pieces of land from which it plans to remove play equipment.

Out of the six to be closed, two - at Hundens Park and Eastmount Road - will be replaced by sites at the Eastbourne Sports complex, close to the latter site.

A public consultation process is under way on the other four sites, near the riding stables at Red Hall, at Sugar Hill, Lascelles Park and Ingleby Moor Crescent.

The six sites have been selected by the council because it says they are "not used and are in poor condition".

However, local people believe the council should have done more to keep the parks in good repair and to counteract vandalism.

One resident who lives in West Auckland Road, Cockerton, said she had been going to Sugar Hill park since she was a child.

Although it had once been a lovely park, she said it now resembled a dog toilet and had been subject to repeated vandalism.

She feared that children would miss out on the enjoyment from the park experienced by previous generations.

"They should bring back the parkkeepers," she said, adding: "They pander to vandals."

The protest follows repeated complaints about the deterioration of the town's South Park.

The council is awaiting the outcome of a National Lottery bid for money to renovate the park

A council spokeswoman said the parks were being dealt with individually, to ensure the best was done for each individual area. She said local people's opinions would be taken into consideration.

The reason for the changes was because of the vandalism, priorities in the council's parks budget and the need to keep equipment up to European Union standards.

The spokeswoman said that community wardens could, and had been used to patrol the play areas where there had been specific vandalism problems.