Many areas have built their own skateparks to satisfy demand

Pupils at Elfed High School in Buckley want it so that they do not have to skate in the town centre.

But although it is also backed by parents, school governors are worried the skatepark could cause disruption to lessons.

Former town mayor Dennis Hutchinson, said governors were "stonewalling" the issue and pupils should be allowed to give their opinion in a vote on whether they want the scheme to go ahead.

"Parents believe their children are being deprived of this facility, it's a very popular sport for the kids of today," said Mr Hutchinson.

We haven't heard of any other site anywhere in the country being built on a school David Messham, school governor

"The police are in favour of this site."

Buckley Town Council has agreed to pay �30,000 towards the cost, but it could cost up to �60,000 to build and maintain.

Mr Hutchinson said the argument that skaters would disrupt the school were unfounded.

"This is a red herring. School children go to school during the day so where are we going to get skateboarders disrupting lessons from?" he added.

"It does seem to me very unfair that they've approached everyone else but almost 800 children in the school haven't been consulted."

Legal problems

There is a council-run leisure centre on the site of Elfed High School and North Wales Police believe it would be ideal to house a skatepark, as it is well lit and there are staff on site.

Mr Hutchinson said at present children were skating near the homes of older people and "unintentionally causing problems".

The school's chair of governors and county councillor David Messham said there was no attempt to block the scheme.

"There have been some delays but county hall have been looking at the legal implications of placing a skatepark on a school site," he said.

"We haven't heard of any other site anywhere in the country being built on a school.

"There are going to be problems, it is still a teaching establishment but we can overcome problems with proper design.

"We wouldn't like to attract vandals to Elfed."

"I have sympathy for the scheme but I don't want to see any good work at the school undone," he added.