ELDERLY people on the New Mills estate in Ledbury are demanding action for a play area where, they say, the noise is so loud they cannot hear themselves think.

The play area is off Browning Road, where play equipment, a basketball court and a football goal are proving strong attractions for teenagers.

This is causing considerable nuisance for residents whose Kingsmead bungalows are behind the play area, said resident Liz Francois, aged 68.

She said: “The noise levels are horrendous sometimes, especially straight after school and during the school holidays, and it’s not the young children, it’s the big ones.

“They climb the netball frame and look into the gardens, and we have all those balls coming over and hitting windows. You cannot sit in the garden.

You cannot hear yourself think.” Mrs Francois said other nuisances was being caused by constant swearing and the fact youngsters like to beat a metal play tube with big sticks, knocking it out of shape.

She has sent a letter with her concerns to Ledbury Town Council.

Herefordshire Council has advised the town’s Greenspaces Liaison Group, chaired by Coun Martin Eager, that the play area has been highlighted as being “in a dilapidated state and in need of immediate attention”.

But as the cash-strapped authority has no funds for this, plans are being made for local residents to form a community action group, to obtain grants that could lead to the play area’s refurbishment.

The town council is planning a residents’ meeting to get the ball rolling.

But councillors are adamant the play area should stay and there should be no moves to close it. Coun Keith Francis said: “It’s not all that run-down. It just needs attention. I know there have been problems with young people gathering there.

“But young people will gather anywhere and they have to gather somewhere.

I think we should retain it.” Coun Eager said: “When people bought those bungalows they must have known the play area was there. If they thought it would affect the quality of their lives, why buy a bungalow?”

Mrs Francois does not want the play area removed but suggested that, if it is refurbished, the football goal and basketball frame should be put at the other end of the surfaced courts, so that balls will fly into an area of green open space and not into people’s gardens.