ELEVEN projects to develop play areas for youngsters across the borough have been scrapped as part of government spending cuts.

Bromley Council had been given a £1.1m grant to build on 22 sites over two years as part of the previous Labour government’s £235m playbuilder scheme.

Now just half of those will see work completed.

Around £50,000 had been allocated for each of the projects including a mountain bike course at Churchfields Recreation Ground in Playground Close, Elmers End and facilities in Mottingham Woods to deter anti-social behaviour.

Also in the pipeline was an adventure playground for children at Darrick Wood in Lovibonds Avenue, Orpington and the expansion of a play area at Penge Recreation Ground in Blean Grove.

The council’s executive councillor for environment, Councillor Colin Smith, who is Conservative, said: “It's very difficult to argue that this spending was ever a priority or that it should be spared from the government's desperately needed budget review cuts.

“Indeed, Bromley argued very strongly with the previous government that ‘nice’ as the projects in question were in principle, the ring fenced £1.1m made available to us would be much better targeted at the borough's school maintenance programme where it would have served far greater use and offered better value for money boroughwide.

“Sadly we were told in no uncertain terms that these were ring fenced monies to spend on playgrounds so it was a case of ‘use them or lose them’, thus the programme of projects drawn up as a result.”