RESIDENTS have been left fuming after a football pitch in a city park was relocated yards from their homes.

Locals living in Glencroft Road have called for the King’s Park goal posts to be removed immediately, claiming stray footballs will cause damage.

The goals had previously been elsewhere in the park but residents were startled to see workers moving them yards from their back gardens three weeks ago.

After contacting the council, they discovered it was a permanent decision and were told they would not be removed.

Martin McElhinney, 47, has lived in the area for 15 years with his wife and said: “They are right outside my house, towards my garden.

“There’s been nothing, no consultation with us. They just appeared one morning.

Glasgow Times:

“If the ball comes into the garden it could wreck our windows.

“Are they going to pay to fix our windows if they are damaged or anything else in the property gets damaged?

“It’s also the noise, if there’s kids playing there at night.

“The goalposts were up at the top of the park, on a bit that was really level, but now they are on a slope, right beside us.

“They need to be removed, and put back up to where they were before.”

Another resident said: “Where my back garden is, there are railings and then it’s the park.

“The goal posts are not far away, they’re practically in my back garden.

“If older ones were playing football they could easily kick the ball into my back garden or could end up damaging people’s property.

“During the summer there will obviously be much more activity as well, we can’t estimate how many people are going to be using it.

“It’s not about people enjoying themselves, we just don’t want them to cause damage.

“There are also a lot of elderly people living here, and the noise could be a problem for them.”

The decision is understood to have been taken by community groups including Friends of Kings Park, however residents say they were not consulted before the move.

A spokeswoman from Friends of Kings Park said they had raised money to buy the new goal posts but the decision to move them closer to the Glencroft Community centre and residents' homes had been taken by a local councillor, not by members of the group.

She added that the previous location of the goals had been waterlogged and made it difficult for them to be used.

A council spokeswoman said: “Local groups including Friends of Kings Park felt the goal posts were underused and asked if they could be moved to the new location close to the Glencroft Community Room.

“Given some of the concerns among residents, we will monitor the situation and if it’s deemed necessary, will revisit the position of the goal posts with all interested parties included.”