Play areas in southern Oxfordshire will start to reopen from today, but Vale of White Horse District Council has urged visitors to stay safe and wash their hands.

Parks will only re-open once safety checks have been carried out and officers are happy they are safe for people to use.

The first play area to re-open will be at Abbey Meadow in Abingdon. The council will then check play areas in Wantage and Faringdon later in the week.

Oxford Mail:

To stay safe the council is asking visitors to sanitise their hands before entering the play area and again when they leave, to visit at quieter times and stay socially distanced.

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District councillor Jenny Hannaby said: “I’m delighted that we can re-open our play areas again and I know many young children and their parents will have been looking forward to this moment.

“As a council we are responsible for the play areas we own and will carry out cleaning to help reduce the potential risk of the virus to visitors. However, it would be impossible to clean every piece of equipment after each time a child touches it.

“We are therefore asking parents and their children to follow some very simple instructions to avoid transmitting the virus. It is particularly important that everyone washes their hands before entering the play area and then again as soon as they leave. This is the best way for people to stay safe and protect others while enjoying themselves.”