The city council has set up the scheme to encourage the public to voice concerns and to leave comments about facilities and cleanliness.

It has been launched as an alternative to speaking to a park warden.

But visitors to Western Park in Leicester say a phone line is no substitute for a good warden based at every park.

Broken glass

One walker said: "I don't think a telephone line will substitute a person on the ground as far as keeping an eye on the place is concerned."

While another visitor told the BBC he was concerned about the park being abused at night.

He said: "There's a lot of boy racers, stolen cars that come in at night time.

"I haven't seen a park warden, I think they just pick up the litter and cut the grass and that's it."

City council officials say the line will help them target known trouble spots.

Richard Welburn, city council head of parks and greenspace services, said: "This new dedicated phone line will make it easier for people to report fallen trees or problems on parks and play areas such as litter, broken glass or vandalism.

"All city parks and play areas are inspected by officers regularly. But this sort of input from users and local residents is invaluable in helping us maintain facilities that are both safe and attractive.

"The new system will also allow us to monitor the sorts of calls received, identify any problem hotspots and potentially target future resources to address recurrent problems."