LONG LEE clean-up volunteers have turned their efforts to an overgrown playground after tidying the Twines.

The new “Friends of the Cobbles” group uncovered paths, walls and a giant crab mosaic after blitzing the play area off Thwaites Brow Road.

The volunteers, led by Long Lee resident Paul Cook, pulled up their sleeves after working with town councillors and Bradford Council to improve the Twines when it was hit by a spate of fly tipping.

A Community Payback team is currently spending two days a week on major work to clear vegetation, soil and rubbish and return the cobbles on the Twines to their original state.

Mr Cook, who was also helped by fellow staff from Melia Powell Funeral Directors, said he gained permission from Bradford Council’s parks department to clear dangerous bushes from the playground.

He said: “We’ve done the majority of the work and uncovered steps and that used to be there. Children can now go in there safely. We’ve had some amazing feedback on the difference we’ve made.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done. Over the next couple of weeks hedges and bushes will be cut back. We still have to bag leaves and rubbish.

Mr Cook said he was now working with local councillors including Michael Westerman, Peter Corkindale and Brian Morris to find cash for new play equipment.

Mr Cook added: “The play area used to be a hive of activity. Parents took their children down there. We want to get amazing things for the kids like zip wires.”

Mr Cook said the intention on the Twines itself has been to clear everything away to reveal the cobbles right up to the road edges, including cutting down saplings that had grown out of existing trees

He said: “Where there should have been a footpath, it had become a grass verge. Now there’s clear space where people can walk and where water can run down safely.

Cllr Morris this week praised the “fantastic” work of local residents and the Community Payback team in the Twines area.

In the original clean-up, residents filled 40 sacks with vegetation and rubbish from one section of Thwaites Brow Road.