A revamp of a West Cumbrian playpark has not gone quite to plan for a town council – which has to defend itself from a social media backlash.
Workington Town Council proudly unveiled the new equipment on Harrington Marina on Facebook, which replaced the old climbing frames.
However, people were quick to criticise because they said it was unsuitable for toddlers.
The authority said it had a tight budget and was planning to invest in the play area next year.
A statement from the town council said: “We are sorry that so many of you are disappointed with the new equipment at Harrington.
“It is always our intention to improve and develop play areas within the town to benefit the whole community.
“The old climbing frames at Harrington were no longer safe, they were rusting, corroding and showing significant signs of wear and tear.
“We therefore had to make the decision to replace the climbing frames within a tight budget. To replace the climbing frames like-for-like would have cost around £80,000.
“We are obviously not going to stop adding and updating the equipment as and when we can, budget dependent and Harrington Marina Play area will see more investment and development next year.
“We can’t do everything in one go, we have many other projects on the go to improve the whole of Workington and a budget within which we need to work with.”
