A NEYLAND town councillor has said his “blood runs cold” at the thought of children urinating in public at the town’s all-weather sports pitch.

At a meeting on Monday, councillors discussed ongoing problems at the multi-use games area (MUGA), highlighted in a letter from a local resident.

Children, both accompanied and unaccompanied, were regularly urinating through the fence, and groups of teenagers were kicking balls over the fences, shouting, shrieking and using foul language, the letter said.

“I have seen parents telling their child to go by a bush rather than use a toilet,” it continued.

Between 8am and 4.30pm the MUGA is used by pupils at Neyland CP School, and maintained by a caretaker.

Outside these hours it is used by local sports clubs for practice sessions and matches, and by groups of older children.

Cllr Brian Rothero said a local coach had told him groups often did not have enough helpers to accompany children to the nearest toilets, at the Athletic Club.

Cllr Dan Blyth said this was “a big concern”, as it was not in line with child protection measures.

“It makes my blood run cold to think of children urinating through the fence,” he said.

“Everything she says is happening,” added Cllr William McGarvie. “It’s a serious problem.”

Cllr Brian Phelan said the MUGA was originally given to Neyland Soccer Club, but was later adopted by the county council when the new primary school was built.

Cllr Mike Harry said it was therefore up to the county council to resolve the problems, adding: “They were happy to take it off our hands as part of the area of the school.

“If a bit of money was spent on it, it could alleviate the problem.”

But Cllr Rothero said the county council was having to cut millions of pounds from its budget, and the MUGA was unlikely to be a priority.

He proposed the town council instead take more of an active role in managing how the MUGA is used.

“The problem is that no-one accepts responsibility for it,” he said.

“If the town council took it over we could charge sports teams to use it and build a budget for repairs.”

Cllr Blyth suggested going to local schools to explain the situation, and get youngsters to take an active role in looking after the site.

“Young people have a lot more intelligence than we give them credit for,” he said.

The council voted to write to the county council’s social services and leisure team about the issues.