YORK parents are campaigning to retain a vital play area at the city's Barbican Centre, which will be scrapped under development plans.

The soft play area is a haven for busy parents who are able to take their children along to play in a safe environment.

But under the new development plans, the play area, which is the only one of its kind in the city centre, will be scrapped.

Anna Semylen, the chairwoman of York Playground Action Group, regularly takes her two-and-a-half year old daughter, Rosie, to the centre, and believes it is vital. She said: "If you are a mother of two and you need to leave the house, where do you go?

"This is a fantastic place to go if you have crawling babies, or different aged children.

"It is also a very good place to be social with other parents because you can let your child out of your sight. There is social contact for mothers and it is difficult to think of any where else to do that."

Anna believes without the facility in the city it could even lead to post-natal depression for some mothers who cannot get out.

Mother-of-two Julie Simpson says she uses the centre regularly, and says it is also used by a lot of fathers who often feel uncomfortable at play groups.

She said: "It is particularly useful for people who do not have transport in the winter months you can see other parents and the children really like it."

Anna has written to the council and has set up a petition and is confident she will get more than 100 signatures.

Martin Foster, from FPD Savills, the consultants behind the Barbican Venture, said once built, the development would be given back to City of Council.

He said: "If they wish to include a soft play area, it is entirely within their remit to do so."

A council spokesman said: "This is one of the smaller facilities we currently provide in the Barbican although we recognise its value to the customers who use it. Clearly, in a redevelopment option of the size we are currently consulting on, it has not been possible to specify everything.

"However, we have always said that if any facility or service is moved out of the Barbican, we would look at locating them elsewhere in the city.

"We appreciate the concerns of these parents, but feel they are somewhat premature in their protest, as the consultation is still going on and no decisions have been made."

Updated: 09:00 Thursday, March 27, 2003