Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has lost in his bid to buy a piece of parkland that adjoins his Etobicoke home.

On Friday, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority turned down the request to purchase a 250 square-metre parcel, which Ford said was needed so he could install better security fence and provide a safer play space for his children.

An earlier staff report said the sale of the land on would "violate" TRCA policy which discourages private development of parkland.

TRCA officials said they couldn't recall another instance of a piece of parkland being sold to a resident.

The patch of land became front-page news when Ford confronted a Toronto Star reporter who was near his property while researching a story about the purchase application.