'My children aren't safe without a school fence'

Lee Blount said a fence should have been put up around the school's sports field decades ago

Parents in a Shropshire town are backing a primary school that said it wants to fence off its sports field to keep children safe.

Lee Blount, who has two children at Cleobury Mortimer Primary School, said pupils had been at risk of aggressive dogs and their mess for too long.

Shropshire Gateway Educational Trust, which runs the school, said the boundary of the field needed to be made secure in the interest of safeguarding.

But some residents living in the town claimed they had a legal right to access the land at all times.

Cleobury Mortimer Primary School was rated Good after a 2023 Ofsted inspection

"I'm sick and tired of my children having to try and pick up dog mess before a PE lesson," said parent Lee Blount.

"I went to this school as a child and there has always been a problem with people walking their dogs."

The 45-year-old claimed "99% of parents" with children at the school wanted a fence.

The recreation ground off Love Lane is essentially two fields in one, with no physical boundary separating them.

Cleobury Mortimer Town Council owns the larger field to the west, while Shropshire Council leases the smaller plot to the east of the adjoining primary school.

Parent Sarita Smith hopes a compromise can be found between the school and community

Sarita Smith, who has two children at the school, said parents had complained about their children going home from school with dog poo on their shoes and uniform.

"It's a health and safety issue," she said. "It would be so much more secure with a fence and if we've got that opportunity now then let's do it."

A covenant in the deeds, agreed in 1973 by the then-parish and county councils, stated residents should have access to the school field "at all times for the purpose of informal recreational activities," providing they do not "unreasonably interfere with organised school activities in progress".

Grainger Jones is trying to revive a cricket club after play stopped during the covid pandemic

Parent Grainger Jones, who has recently organised several community cricket tournaments, said there was also a covenant permitting a cricket pitch, which would not be possible if a fence divided the two fields.

"All of a sudden, a big educational trust has come along and used their legal might to try and grab the land from the community," said Mr Jones, whose daughter attends the primary school.

"If the school wants to put the kids behind fences, then they can walk over to the nearby senior school and access the all the fenced-off playing fields there. It's all part of the same trust."

The town council said it wanted to hear from the community before agreeing to, or fighting against, the fence.

An Ofsted report in 2023 did not raise the open-access sports field as a safeguarding concern

It has criticised the school trust for not engaging enough with the community and for not undertaking a public consultation.

The town council said: "No compromise has been offered by the school and sadly, Shropshire Council are not concerned about a fence, despite being reminded of the covenants.

"The school engaged the services of a solicitor who also disputes the covenants and the public use of the land, even at weekends, and this action has set back communications."

The council was approached for comment but directed the BBC to the Shropshire Gateway Education Trust.

"The Shropshire Gateway Educational Trust is dedicated to doing its best for children and this includes safeguarding," the trust said in a statement.

"The boundary of the school field needs to be made secure and we have spent, and continue to spend, considerable time liaising with the community over a resolution."

A second public meeting organised by the town council will take place on 4 September.