Perils of a rooftop playground

Lack of facilities on Leeds estate led to dangerous games at tower block

JONATHAN FOSTER

Northern Correspondent

Residents yesterday described how the roof and upper floors of Grayson Heights, in Kirkstall, Leeds, had became a perilous playground prior to the death of 74-year-old Edna Condie.

Punctured aerosol cans and a variety of household goods were thrown, and children dared each other to swing from a plank laid across the 15ft gap between the block's two wings.

The residents said that the first complaints about objects thrown from the roof began three weeks ago.

One woman said: "I told the children to keep away because it was dangerous, but there is nothing else for kids to do - only a small park with just one swing."

The Kirkstall estate is not counted by the city council among the most turbulent communities in Leeds and Grayson Heights is one of a pair of 12-storey tower blocks surrounded by maisonettes.

There is little graffiti on the walls, and no evidence of widespread vandalism. But residents yesterday deplored the lack of a playground on a council estate where 400 children live.

Some of the elderly claimed that Kirkstall estate was deteriorating, although younger tenants said the area was free of the drugs and crime which other estates endure.

Derek Green, 35, an unemployed former soldier, said he was happy to have been housed in Grayson Heights. "I've met a lot of very nice, friendly people," he said.

"I quite like to go up to the roof. I do a lot of Tai Chi training up there. I've not seen children playing up there, but I have occasionally seen things flying off the roof. I didn't report it because the authorities don't take any notice."