ON a sunny Saturday morning, this Kings Worthy playground should be filled with happy, laughing children.

But parents visiting the playground in Pound Road will no longer let their children play there without checking it first.

Last month a syringe was found in this under-sevens' haven.

But other problems include older children gathering in the area in the daytime, and drinking there at night.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: "It's a lovely playground and my kids used to enjoy playing there.

"But I won't let them now, not after they found that syringe."

Lisa Benham allows her daughter Cloe, 5, to play in the area when they come to visit Cloe's granny, but she exercises caution.

"I always have a look around, before I let her play.

"Although I've never seen anything myself, I have heard that sometimes there are things on the floor that shouldn't be there." Another local added: "In the past few months we've had a broken swing, and trees in the playground.

"My five children play in our back garden now - it's much safer and cleaner and there's no rubbish lying around.

"The playground is meant to be for the under-sevens, but when older ones go in there, they frighten the smaller children."

Kings Worthy Parish Council owns the playground and chairman Michael Peat informed the police when he was told about the syringe, but it was disposed of before police could see it.

Mr Peat said: "It's unfortunate. "The syringe is the first real evidence we've had in five years of that sort of activity in the play area."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.