A Newcastle councillor says the police were called on him when he removed an "unofficial" padlock barring access to a Shieldfield play area.
Gareth Kane, a Lib Dem councillor representing Ouseburn ward, was informed by residents last Monday that Shieldfield's Multi-Use Game Area had been improperly padlocked on both sides, meaning no-one could enter.
By the time Coun Kane was informed however, the park had already been shut off for around a week.
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Coun Kane said: "I reported it to the council, last Thursday I think, through council services but when I came through on Saturday it was still locked. There were at least two dozen kids outside the play area and that made me angry.
"It made me angry that these kids had been deprived", Coun Kane continued.
"We put that in specially to encourage kids to play outside. So, I came down on Sunday morning, slightly ill-prepared, with tools and sawed off the chain, with the help of a passer-by."
Coun Kane was satisfied the padlock did not resemble an official Newcastle City Council official padlock. The padlock had also been glued and the keys were later found inside the park itself, which according to Coun Kane is not council protocol.
In yet another bizarre twist, Coun Kane was later approached by police officers responding to a report of alleged vandalism in the area.
In a tweet which has now been 'liked' more than 1,000 times, Coun Kane wrote: "Well, this escalated. I got fed up and went and sawed through the chain (with a bit of help from a passerby) and “somebody” called the police on us. Police turned up with blue lights flashing as they had been told that someone was breaking into a building."
According to Northumbria Police: "Officers attended the area and were satisfied that no criminal activity had taken place."
Coun Kane also stated the police were "very understanding" but he was still furious the play park had been interfered with.
"This is a deprived area with lots of kids who are mad keen on football. Everybody is always moaning about kids, that they stay inside and don't go outside
"The facility was put in to encourage kids to do something active and to do it safely, and it gets put out of action for eight or nine days. We did sometimes get complaints about older youths playing there at night but residents say that hasn't happened in a long time, and that is not a reason to close the facility."
At the time of writing, one gate remains padlocked.
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