THOUSANDS of pounds worth of play equipment which residents planned to re-use in their community have been destroyed by Birmingham City Council contractors because of “liability risks”.

Plastic slides, climbing equipment, ball pits and soft mats were broken up and taken away from The Castle swimming pool in Castle Vale.

Residents and volunteers who campaigned for the pool to remain open lost their fight to keep the venue’s cafe and play area last year but planned to use the equipment to create a community room.

Activists said they received assurances from the council that the equipment would be kept at a nearby pool but instead a volunteer arrived last weekend to discover most of the kit had been dismantled and removed.

Amanda Cutler, who is a member of the Castle Vale User Group said: “I went to the centre and found three men emptying out the contents of the cafe upstairs. They were from Wrexham but had been employed by the council to get rid of it all even though we were told it would be reused.

“There was a big castle model for the children to play in, a big metal frame which had tubes and slides and it was all broken up. There was thousands of pounds worth of equipment which was in really good condition.

“It is such a waste, especially with all the cuts being made – this could have all been put to good use. We tried to salvage some of it, we filled six black sacks with balls from the pit which we can give to a local nursery, there was also a high chair which had never been used so we kept that but it’s a disgrace – a real shame for the community.”

The Castle Vale pool in Farnborough Road, which was officially opened by the Queen, saw its opening hours reduced as a result of cutbacks. The cafe and refreshment area was shut as part of proposals to claw back more than £120,000 per year.

Coun Lynda Clinton (Lab, Tyburn) who campaigned for months to keep the pool open, said: “It’s the social value, not just how much money it is worth. But to replace all of that play equipment, you are talking thousands.”

A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: “When inspected, the vast majority of equipment was not suitable for re-use at other sites, which left no option but to dispose of it.

“Nothing that could be re-used by the council was destroyed. It would not have been practical or feasible for any of the equipment to be given to a third party because of the liability risks that this would have placed upon the council.”