A CITY councillor admitted that a park which has become a haven for drug dealers and criminals had been badly designed.

A meeting of Oxford City Council's South East Area Committee on October 7 heard that Gillians Park in Greater Leys had been ruined by anti-social behaviour, and needed to be redesigned to make it more attractive to local families.

Equipment had been vandalised, and children were unable to play there at weekends because of dangers posed by motorcyclists.

City councillor Val Smith, who has been working with Thames Valley Police architects on ways of improving the park, said it had been badly designed ten years ago.

Councillors, including herself, were partly to blame for its problems.

She added: "It is a desolate place we are dealing with. It is a park with not much going for it, and I take responsibility for that.

"We wanted children running and having a happy time and that didn't happen. It was used for drug dealing and anti-social behaviour.

"On Sunday afternoons, you can see children leaving the park in droves because of motorcycles. People can't play there.

"We are obliged to do something. We want to get more people into the park to frighten away the drug dealers."

Pc Steve Redding, community beat officer for Blackbird Leys and Greater Leys, said: "It's a wonderful area but is incredibly difficult to police. "It is too big and we only have a certain number of people available to police it at any one time."

But he said the area's reputation as a hive of criminals had been exaggerated. "I accept there's a problem but it isn't as bad as it was," he said.

"It isn't such a crime hotspot and I am pleased to say there isn't much drug taking going on there. It is going on in homes, not in the park."

Blackbird Leys parish councillor Brian Lester, who lives in Pegasus Road, criticised the city council's parks department for failing to maintain the park.

He said: "The way it is kept annoys me. It is a shoddy job and the parks department should hang their heads in shame.

"It is disgusting that an area like that is being left to go derelict."

Suggested improvements include a five-a-side football pitch, a meeting shelter, basketball hoops, tree surgery and the installation of vandal-proof lights.