ABUSIVE and intimidating behaviour by young skateboarders is just one of the problems that a Haslemere parent says has been aggravated by the town's new skate park at The Herons.

Mother-of-two Carol Kirby from Farnham Lane says the long-awaited skate park, which has been built on one of the tennis courts, has simply added to the problems it was supposed to solve.

Instead of taking youngsters away from the leisure centre car park, Mrs Kirby says there are now more children weaving dangerously in between the cars.

The skate park was officially opened in August and has proved popular. However, Mrs Kirby says the facility has created a "them and us" situation between local youngsters who visit to the site.

"While the older youths are performing on the ramps within the safety of the tennis courts, the younger ones seem to be ostracised from this facility and have taken up the position in the car park previously used by the older ones.

"In short, there are now twice as many youths careering around an area that was intended for cars as there were before."

She added:"Every Friday evening, between the hours of 5 pm and 7 pm, hordes of youths descend upon The Herons car park.

"It is now the younger youths, aged about ten to 12 years who are causing a problem.

"Only last Friday, I gingerly drove out of the car park and as I approached the exit, one young boy aged about ten flew out in front of my car from between two parked vehicles.

"If I had not been driving so slowly, I certainly would have run him over, and no guesses as to who would have been the villain of the piece."

Mrs Kirby believes more local residents should have been consulted on the scheme and says many were unaware of a questionnaire issued by The Herons Leisure Centre.

She also feels local tennis players are being "deprived" of the tennis court which has been used as a home for the skate park

"The young should be encouraged to take up the sport, not prevented from playing it."

But Mrs Kirby says she is most concerned with the behaviour of youngsters in the area.

She said: "Last Saturday, my husband was in The Herons car park and was prevented from parking because of youths on their skateboards.

"When he remonstrated with them, the response was one of abuse and truculence. The question we have to ask ourselves is this, why was The Herons built in Haslemere?

"The answer must surely be to service the needs of the local community at large who want to swim, play tennis and squash and keep fit.

"It was not built in order to serve as a gathering point for the young who want to abuse both this facility and local residents who want to park their cars there.

"Creating a skatepark has not solved the problem at all, merely exacerbated it. Should local residents really have to be the subject of abuse and rudeness just because they want to use the facilities of The Herons?"

Herons Leisure Centre manager Brendan O'Neill says Mrs Kirby has a legitimate argument but told The Herald he has no immediate solutions. He believes the park has been a victim of its own success.

He said: "I don't think there are more children skateboarding in the car park but I there are, unfortunately, still some using it.We do go out and ask them to use the skate park but we can't stand out there all day. The park gets very busy and the youths often overflow into the car park."

He added: "I haven't had any reports of abusive behaviour from any customers yet and the only accidents we have had have been car to car.

"I do sympathise with the lady but I don't see any solution at the moment. The young people need somewhere to go and the skate park has proved very popular."

Crime prevention officer Pc John Robini said:"Since the skateboard park has been introduced we have had no crime reported. We will obviously be patrolling the area and anyone who experiences problems can contact the local police station."