IT WAS meant to be an oasis of green on a former derelict site.

But now angry residents in Golcar have condemned Kirklees Council workmen for causing damage to their new “pocket park”.

Workmen dumped a skip on the grassed areas, drove a van across the park – and then had to have the vehicle dragged out when it got stuck in mud.

Deep tyre tracks have been gouged across the grass and mud strewn across the neat pathways in the so-called Pocket Park, or peace garden, in Laburnum Grove.

The derelict garage site was opened up as a park only in January and the new-look site was greeted with a great fanfare from council officials and Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing.

The park was developed after Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing asked local people about the improvements they wanted to see in their area.

They worked with environmental improvement group Groundwork, tenants and residents and local councillors and funding came from Kirklees Council’s Narrowing the Gap Fund and soft drinks firm Britvic.

Now they have vowed to rectify the damage and take action against the workmen.

One local resident, Clive Cronie, said: “We could not believe what they have done.

“The local children play in the area and we try to treat it with respect but then the workmen do this.

“It was meant to be a place where people could sit and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet but the mud has now been spread all over the place.

“What beggars belief is there is a car park only a few feet away and they could have parked the van and the skip there without causing any damage.”

It is thought the workmen used the park while working in a nearby house.

A spokesman for Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing, which looks after the council properties across the area, said: “We’ve just been made aware of the damage to the park and will be looking into what happened.

“KNH, ward councillors and local residents spent a lot of time and effort creating the park so we will make sure the damage is repaired and that this kind of incident doesn’t happen again.”