RESIDENTS are campaigning to bring a skate park to south Abingdon to stop antisocial behaviour.

The idea is among goals for the area on a new community planning group wish list.

The residents’ group, which has no name yet, met at South Abingdon Children’s Centre on Monday to discuss the plans.

Mum-of-four Mary Day, 41, of Grebe Close, started the south Abingdon campaign and said the group was looking at land on the northern side of Southern Town Park.

She said: “For the past two and a half years I have had antisocial behaviour outside my house. We have kids dossing about and swearing, you name it. What I am trying to do is get south Abingdon kids into something.

“I am hoping if we get the skate park up and running more and more kids can go up there and their parents will feel they have a safe place to go.

“They have to travel to north Abingdon at the moment and we have had a couple knocked off their bikes by cars.”

She has collected more than 200 signatures on a petition.

The first obstacle is to raise £3,000 to assess the suitability of the land, which was used for landfill.

A £122,000 skatepark was opened next to the White Horse Leisure Centre in 2007.

District councillor Mary de Vere, who is a member of the group, said: “People always forget the population of south Abingdon is the same as Wantage and Grove, but it does not have the facilities. All we have is two pubs and a vet.”