An outraged mother has branded a council's health and safety measures 'ridiculous' after her three-year-old son was banned from riding his bicycle in a local park.
A park warden told Melanie Liu, 36, that her son Jude's stabilizers were a 'hazard'.
Mrs Liu, who is eight months pregnant, was stopped by the warden as her toddler pedalled through the park. She was told he must dismount straight away or they would be evicted. She said: 'When I asked why, they said my son was a health and safety hazard. I think they are taking political correctness to ridiculous levels - the bike is no higher than my knee and I'm 5ft 1in. I believe we were targeted because I'm so pregnant and Jude's so small.'
She added that the warden targeted her, yet ignored disruptive youths hanging around the park. 'There were other things going on in the park that were ignored - teens drinking beer, someone with a pitbull terrier - but we were an easy target. The real health and safety issue are the teenagers on bikes that go round the play area where the children are, not a pre-schooler on a bike with stabilisers. What damage is he going to cause?'
A council spokesperson denied that Mrs Liu and Jude had been asked to leave the park:
Scarborough Council's parks and countryside manager Roger Burnett said: 'The by-law in operation in the park states that cycles are permitted, but people have to walk with them and push them along rather than ride on them. Our park officer did approach the lady and her son to tell her about this by-law but at no time did he ask her to leave the park.'
What do you think?
Have you been subjected to over zealous health and safety rules?