A WRANGLE between a house builder and a council over ownership of an Ely playpark has forced a group of residents to step in and save the facility for falling into ruin.

The small playpark in Collier Close was built by David Wilson Homes in 2002 along with a series of houses but was never formally adopted by East Cambridgeshire District Council, which said that it fell short of its requirements.

Responsibility for the park has been batted between the two parties ever since and it fell into such a poor state of repair, residents say, that they were forced to step in, armed with lawnmowers and garden tools earlier this month to clean it up.

Mum of three Jenny Rudkin, said: “The park was falling to rack and ruin and when we brought it up at Neighbourhood Panel meetings it was never dealt with.

“It got to the point where all the residents were just fed up with it, we continue to pay our council tax even though nothing is being done to look after the park or the roads.

“A group of us got together with two petrol lawnmowers and it took us two-and-a-half hours to cut the grass back, it was so long and thick that it must have been about four feet high.”

Mrs Rudkin, who is a childminder, added that the residents group filled up several bin liners with weeds and rubbish that had accumulated in the park which, she said, had become unsafe for local children to use.

A spokesman for East Cambridgeshire District Council said: ““We have been chasing David Wilson Homes since 2011 to progress the adoption of the play area in Collier Close. We completely understand the frustration which local residents must feel and we hope the developer will finally give us the information we need to deal with this matter as soon as possible.”