Parents and town councillors are up in arms over a council’s decision to put sign banning bikes and ball games from play grounds near Corwen.

The new signs, which also prohibit smoking, drinking, dog fouling and littering, have been put up on council parks around the county in recent weeks.

Denbighshire County Council have been aprpoached for comment.

Mum of two, Portia Cowley, 25, said: ” They’ve put the no cycling sign up on the gate of the play ground at Uwch y Dre and it’s the only space that kids for cycling there.

“It’s where my children cycle, you can see the park from my house

“I haven’t seen any children flouting the rules, but it’s deeply unfair. There are steep hills here and children can’t ride their bikes safely.

“Usually these come in after complaints and I’ve lived up there for a year and I’ve never seen anyone in there drinking or smoking. The only thing it’s stopping is little children cycling. It’s deeply unfair.

Portia, who is also on Corwen’s town council has two children aged seven and four.

“There are lots of children who like to ride their bikes there, and there’s no harm, the swings at Uwch y dre are cordoned off,” she continued.

“When you’ve got younger children who are too young to go on the pathways in the forest on their own or they aren’t strong enough this is the only place they can learn.”

The play area at Maesafallen prohibits ball games - despite having goalposts and nets.

Chair of Corwen Town Council Simon Watkins said: “People want to know where they’ve come from.

“If there are kids playing, are Denbighshire enforcing it? It’s just overkill, isn’t it?

“They’ve gone over the Town Council, we weren’t aware of them.

“I don’t eve know why they’ce gone up, it’s just daft

“The whole reason for the park is for kids to learn to ride, play football or play rounders, and I’m surprised it doesn’t say no swinging on the swings.

“Is it health and safety just gone mad? The town council is in recess for August but there will be questions about why they’re there and at what cost.”

A spokesman for Denbighshire County Council said: “The last thing we want to do is restrict enjoyment of the play area. We have to be mindful of children’s safety and these are guidelines to ensure we can keep children safe within the play area where there is play equipment.

“The ‘no bikes’ sign is to stop children riding around the play area on bikes when other children are using the equipment and we can only allow ball games where there is enough space and a goal facility within a fenced off play area.

“We rely on users to be sensible and respect the play area as well as other users.”