SCHOOLS are in danger of becoming like "prison camps" as more playgrounds are fenced in, planners have been warned.

Cllr Stuart Murray said a Bolton primary school would be "like a fortress" and voiced his fears on the effect it was having on young children.

At a Bolton Council planning sub-committee meeting, Cllr Murray told fellow members of his concerns as they passed plans for security fencing around St Ethelbert's RC School on Melbourne Road, Bolton.

He said: "I'm concerned it will look like a prison camp. I realise that there are needs for security measures and it seems that there have been a spate of these security fences going up around the town following Ofsted reports.

"I realise that the safety of the children is paramount, but I have sympathy with these seven-year-olds looking out through these fences.

"Playgrounds are becoming like fortresses. We will soon get a situation in which we will have children fenced in at all times. It is a worry to me that the only solution to this problem is to box children in."

Cllr Jack Foster, chairman of the planning control sub-committee, said: "It is a sad reflection of the society we live in."

A 2.4 metre high fence will surround the playground of the school close to houses on St Ethelbert's Avenue.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.