A PLAY area that missed out on a refurbishment two years ago has finally got new equipment.

The £25,000 plan for the play area off Great Clarendon Street in Jericho was missed off an Oxford City Council list for park refurbishments.

Now it has a new basket swing, seat climbing frame and wooden house and is to get a new roundabout.

Father-of-two Simon Riley said: “The work really did need doing and it seems to have gone down very well. It is the only playground in the area and a lot of people don’t have gardens here so it is a bit like a garden we all use.”

Jericho and Osney Labour councillor Susanna Pressel said parents had pressed for the change, adding: “I quite agreed with them, so I got in touch with the city council.

“There are lots of young children in Jericho and the number is growing. Many of them live in small houses or flats and there is very little open space, so the children's play area is very well-used.

“I’m really pleased the council found some money to do it and it's great that all this is being done in time for the summer.”

The council spent £3.1m from 2009 to 2012 refurbishing most of the city’s 87 play areas. It declined to explain why the Great Clarendon Street site was not included.

The council is also working with nearby St Barnabas Primary School to revamp some of its play facilities, which are open to the public after school and at weekends. Another park in Jericho, in Oatlands Road, is also to be revamped later this year.

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