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A petition to close part of Roath park’s giant slide has been handed in to councillors.

More than 3,200 people have signed the petition, created by mum Siân Fenton.

She said she had acted on the concerns of other parents to start the petition because of safety concerns about the location of the slide.

'Parents have a hard decision to make'

The campaigners want the top of the slide blocked off to improve security to make it easier for parents to watch their children.

“If you are a parent on your own taking children to the park you have a hard decision to make – do you stand at the top of the slide and as fast as you can manage, run down to meet them at the bottom?

“Or do you wait at the bottom of the slide to get them, hoping they don’t decide to leave the park via the access point to the prom?

“Over the years it hasn’t just become about our children running out to look at the ducks, it’s become far more sickeningly worrying....what if someone grabs my child whilst I’m at the bottom and makes a run for it, to a car waiting just yards away from the road?”

Mum Cerys Palmer attended City Hall with her two children, aged four and nine.

“I can’t be in two places at once. Incidents are very rare but it’s a slide by the main road. If I am at the bottom of the slide in case they fall off, I can’t be at the top as well.”

She handed the petition to Pentwyn Lib Dem Councillor Joseph Carter who gave the campaign his support.

“We just want the top area of the slide closed off to the public, to protect our kids from strangers and the main road.”

House to house enquiries

“If the top is closed off at the promenade, at least we can be at the bottom without worry”.

The petition was started after an incident in the park where a group of around six men and one woman allegedly approached two young children in the park.

Siân’s sister took their mum, Sian’s son and her niece to the city park last Thursday at around 7.30pm.

But while the two children were playing, Siân’s sister said she began to feel uncomfortable about a group of people who had no children with them while they were in the playing area.

South Wales Police have conducted house to house enquiries and increased patrols since the alleged incident.