Quick, there's a van coming

The playground at Curledge Street Primary School in Paignton is too small for the 650 pupils to train safely.

Mobile classrooms have been built on the yard, which means there is nowhere big enough to run the 100 metres sprint or to set out hurdles.

So teachers watch the traffic on the road outside the school gates, which is in a one-way system.

Richard Lumsden: "We can't afford playing fields"

The head teacher, Richard Lumsden, said it was a drastic measure, but it was the only way of giving the children a chance to compete equally with other schools.

"We don't have access to the local playing fields we used before. We now have to pay for them and we don't have the funding for that," he said.

"At one time the authority used to pick up the bill but now they feel they can't do that so we are going to have to cancel our swimming lessons as well. It comes down to finance."

The playground is short...

Children say they are aware of the dangers but feel it is better than playing in the yard.

One 11-year-old said a couple of classmates had been hurt on the concrete after tripping over in the cramped space.

Others feel they cannot play football because tackling on the hard ground is too dangerous.

... with a wall at the end

Torbay Council says it is reviewing its funding policy.

But nationally the lack of playground space is causing concern.

A national advisory panel is being set up to look into the problem and applications to change the use of playing fields now require the approval of the education secretary.

Disputed

The government has claimed that it has ended the loss of school playing fields, but the National Playing Fields Association claims that a large proportion of applications are still approved.

It said 159 playgrounds were partially or entirely lost in the last two years, out of 164 applications.

It said schools were having to sell them to raise money or use them to build new classrooms.

And there has been a 22% increase in applications for change of use since last year.

The association said it was a short-term fix to a long-term problem, akin to selling off the family silver.