A playground which opened only a week ago has divided residents in a village community.

Some people whose properties back on to Keble Park, in Bishopthorpe, near York, claim the playground attracts noisy youths and invades their privacy.

Writing on a village website, one resident said the park was noisy and badly monitored.

Susan Hawkridge said: “We have continual noise from 9am and we still have teenagers in there now at 9pm.

“I was never against this in the first place, but I expected that some sort of security and monitoring would be in place, especially in the evenings.”

Residents also claim the climbing frame in the park towers over the fences of nearby properties.

But Amanda Richardson, who lives on Keble Park North, has started a campaign on the website Facebook to save the structure.

“Starting the group was a knee-jerk reaction to the news that the council were considering destroying the climbing frame, but I didn’t expect this amount of interest.

“We’ve had about 80 people sign up each day in favour of the playground. There’s a huge amount of support,” said Amanda, who has also organised a petition.

A statement from Bishopthorpe Parish Council said it had received an 80-signature petition and numerous complaints from residents.

“Concerns raised were primarily regarding privacy of gardens and fear of antisocial behaviour,” said the statement. “These residents have been given support by our ward councillor, John Galvin.”

Coun Galvin said he believed the site should remain a playground, but supported the residents’ views.

“I feel very strongly that the site should be a play area. The layout of the playground is the only issue,” he said. “The decision will be made entirely by the parish council and I’m quite sure I have no control over that.”

“It’s not fair to take the playground away from the hundreds of children who enjoy it just because of speculation about antisocial behaviour,” said Amanda.