SIR: I would like to address this letter to the residents of Cleveleys Avenue who saw fit to call the police regarding children playing in the street.

I know the children can be noisy, kids generally are, but at least they are within sight and relatively safe.

The suggestion was they should play in Tonge Park. This is 10 minutes walk away, and the haunt of every nutter in Tonge Fold. One of the children from Cleveleys Avenue was sexually assaulted only a couple of months ago, in broad daylight at 4.30 in the afternoon, just a few yards from home on Ainsworth Lane. Will the people who complained be happy if the lads are allowed to play away from the street and one of them is abducted or assaulted? I'm afraid the days when children can play in parks or wander away from home are long gone and if the price of child safety is a bit of noise and a few footballs on the gate, then so be it. This is 1997, not 1947. Times have changed since their children were small and, for the sake of the children's safety, we ALL need to be more understanding.

Mrs S J Wood

Cleveleys Avenue, Tonge Fold

Bolton

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