Mums and dads took part in a three-legged pub crawl and other fundraising activities to ensure an after-school club at an Oxford adventure playground continues.

A fun day was held at Folly Bridge Inn, Abingdon Road, Oxford, to raise money to support three play leaders at the South Oxford Adventure Playground after-school club during term time.

A £9,300 city council grant currently pays for five play leaders during weekdays over the summer and Easter holidays - but no funding is available for the after-school club which has proved hugely successful since it was piloted last year.

More than 1,300 children registered to use the free adventure playground in Whitehouse Road, Oxford, last year and parents are determined to raise enough money to keep it going.

Parents also say they are not happy for their children to use other play facilities in the area because of the existence of several halfway houses in Whitehouse Road and a bail hostel Charlie Guinan, landlord of Folly Bridge Inn, whose daughter Charley regularly attends the club, said: "Abingdon Road has got a fair amount of establishments which house unsavoury characters and I wouldn't feel safe sending my child to any of the other parks around.

"The after-school club is brilliant and the adventure playground is the best facility in the area and that is why we decided to organise this funday to raise as much money as possible.

"It is the only place around here where the children can go and feel safe because people are keeping an eye on them.

Jill McCleary, who has run the city council-owned adventure playground for 20 years, said the numbers of children using the after school club more than justified its existence.

She said: "Last year, after the pilot scheme had only run for a short time, 292 children used the after-school club.

"This year, more than 300 children have already used the facility.

"We need to find £5,000 a year to keep the after-school club going. It is a very inclusive club with children coming from all sorts of backgrounds. Last year, 70 children came from special schools.