News

Swings freed by rules check-up

Playground swings in a Wiltshire village are set to re-open after the parish council brought in a senior inspector from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) to ensure that they complied with safety standards. The Great Somerford council closed the swings last week after an inspection by a manufacturer found that they were in breach of European Union standards because the frame was too high.

The Great Somerford council closed the swings last week after an inspection by a manufacturer found that they were in breach of European Union standards because the frame was too high.

However, Elsa Davies, chief executive of the National Playing Fields Association, said there is no EU regulation governing the height of frames for swings.

Toby Sturgis, parish council chairman, said he believed the inspector confused the height of the frame with the 'fall height', which did exceed the required two metres. He said the ROSPA official had made 'minor recommendations' to ensure the swings would meet safety standards.

Despite suggestions that playgrounds around the country were now threatened by EU rules, the European standard BS EN 1176 was in fact adopted as a British Standard in 1998.

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