Drug users' needles, broken glass, yobs setting fire to swings, drunken men shouting abuse – these are just some of the features of Windmill Road recreation ground and Hunslet Lake, according to year six pupils at Windmill Primary School, Belle Isle.

The 11-year-olds said play areas within walking distance of their homes were both "boring" and "dangerous".

And the group of six unanimously backed the YEP's campaign for more play areas, saying they felt their community was neglected compared to other areas.

Hannah Cunningham summed up how important it was for them to have somewhere interesting and safe to play. She said: "It really affects your future – if you have a better place to play that will make you become better people.

"If you're hanging around on the streets, that will make you worse."
She added: "We walk miles because there's nothing to do."

The YEP is calling for play areas in walking distance of every home in Leeds, for youngsters of all ages. Leeds has just 147 council-run playgrounds for around 143,044 children, compared to 311 for 82,700 youngsters in Kirklees, and 129 for 65,438 children in Wakefield.

The Belle Isle youngsters said they rarely visited Windmill Road or Hunslet Lake play areas because there was so little usable equipment.

Hannah said: "At Windmill park all the swings have been burned down and the slide has been pulled down. The swings have been wrecked for about a year and a half."

Amy Breen said: "It's boring and you just find broken glass there."
Hannah added: "Sometimes there's needles near the benches."

Asked to rate it out of 10 the youngsters awarded it zero.

Courtney Best said: "A man followed us across the park and I think he was taking drugs. He was smashing glass, walking around throwing bottles about so we ran away. You don't feel safe there."

She added: "People get victimised there by older children."

Casey Ramsay said Hunslet Lake playground was almost as bad, with missing swings, a broken roundabout, a burned rope swing and broken glass.

Courtney said: "I went to Rothwell Park and it was all painted and nice and I thought 'you can tell this isn't Belle Isle'."

Amy said: "We don't have anything like that round here.
"It's not fair. We're missing out."

They said there were two multi-use games areas near their homes, which they used, but they needed alternatives.

Liam Mitchell said: "There's a big field near me and it says 'no ball games' but it's the only place to go and play."

A Leeds City Council spokeswoman said: "We want every child and young person to have a safe, pleasant area for play and we are aware of the limited facilities in the Belle Isle area.

"Unfortunately the designated play areas we have provided have suffered vandalism and severe damage on a regular basis, and we are working hard to maintain the playground at Windmill Rise.

"We are always looking for appropriate new sites in accordance with our fixed play strategy and also to arrange organised leisure activities for young people within their communities."