DISAPPOINTED youngsters may have to wait until October to be able to use the town's new skate park after organisers hit problems insuring the ramps.

The skateboarding ramps based at the adventure playground, in King George Playing Fields, were due to be opened in time for the start of the summer holidays but it is taking longer than was expected to organise insurance for them.

A huge £14,000 had to be raised for the scheme to go-ahead as a Tarmac surface had to be laid and the old ramps, which were taken from the Lido Park back in 1999, had to be repaired.

The park is now ready to be used but because the insurance company, which has agreed to cover the ramps, requires a safety inspection it has delayed the opening by weeks.

Peter Pinfield, the adventure playground's chairman, said: "It is a great shame that we will probably not be able to open the skate park until after the school holidays have finished due to the problems with insuring the ramps.

"We have got the funds to insure them but it is taking time organising the inspection of them, which the insurance company requires before they will cover them.

"I would like to think that they would be open in time for the October half term as many children do want to use them as soon as they can.

"I'd like to urge the parents of the skateboarders to persuade their youngsters not to use the ramps until we have officially opened them because at the moment, if they do have an accident, we are not insured."

Adventure playground manager Dave Spicer has assured youngsters that it's not a problem they wont be able to solve, it will just take time.

"We would ask the youngsters to bear with us as it will take us time to organise the inspection to enable us to get the ramps insured.

"We are trying to sort things out as quickly as we can so that the skaters can use them as soon as possible," he added.