A MUM fears for her sons' safety after the council began landscaping a play area.

Kathryn Pierce, aged 34, of Banastre Drive, Newton, has two sons aged nine and 13.

With other youngsters they used to play football on open land at the top of their road but now the council is landscaping to stop ball games taking place.

In the past year five incidents of anti social behaviour have been reported to police in the Banastre Drive area, which includes the Parkside BMX field.

Kathryn said: "Kids aren't allowed to play football in the road, so what are they supposed to do? There's no place in Newton for kids to go and just be kids.

"We aren't exactly around the corner from Mesnes Park but here at least I can look out and keep an eye on them.

"I'm not against two small humps being put in to stop the balls rolling onto the road but what we have out there is a big pile of mud."

Houses on the estate sell for between £250,000 to £300,000 and the piece of open land was a big selling point she said.

Last year Kathryn's older son was mugged and beaten up in Mesnes Park when he had gone to play football with a friend.

Kathryn said: "I thought last year I could stop worrying about my son but obviously I learnt the hard way. I don't want other mums having to send their kids to Mesnes Park to get mugged.

"A pile of soil is just stuck there. It's been like that for a month now and nothing seems to be happening, my question is, what's going on?"

A spokesman for St Helens Council said: "Officers consulted with residents living close to this area of open space after games of football and rugby were regularly being played on it resulting in damage being caused to property.

"To reduce the size of the open space, and prevent large scale ball games from taking place, the Council created a soil mound.

"There have been further consultations with residents and in the autumn trees and shrubs will be planted."