Children in Okehampton are still waiting for access to the play park on their housing estate more than a year after it was completed.

The brand new play facility on the Meldon Fields estate, built by developer Linden Homes as part of their planning agreement with West Devon Borough Council, was finished in April last year. However, the developer has not yet opened it up to residents and has instead erected a fence to keep people out.

Resident Sophie Verstegen-Lambell, who lives in Broom Park on the estate, said: ‘My daughter Bronwen is six and she would love to use the play park.

‘We have been living here for a year now and when we first moved in here it was almost finished, yet they haven’t opened it up. They have put this massive builders’ fence around it.

‘It is appalling. The whole estate is occupied now, there isn’t an empty house and there are lots of children here.

‘We have waited and waited and yet nothing has been done.’

She said she had been told by others living on the estate that there were safety issues.

‘I’m slightly unsure as to what the problem is,’ she said.

‘It all looks perfectly stable to me.’

Tony Leech, Okehampton borough and town councillor and West Devon deputy mayor, said: ‘I asked the WDBC enforcement team to look at this issue some months ago and it seems that the hold-up is due to a contractual issue between Linden and their sub-contractors, where certain elements of the work in that area still need to be addressed.

‘It is my understanding that Linden are as keen to get this resolved as the rest of us as they need to hand the area over to the management company who will be responsible for the ongoing landscape maintenance of this estate.’

When contacted by the Times, Linden Homes said: ‘The play park at Meldon Fields has not been opened yet due to unforeseen drainage issues.

‘A solution is currently being investigated and we hope to open the fantastic new facility in time for summer.’