PRECIOUS memories of dead and terminally-ill children have ended up on a rubbish tip after a sensory garden was demolished.

Distraught supporters of Caring Today, based in Brierfield, are furious that within two years of handing over their green haven, in Victoria Park, Nelson, it now lies in ruins.

Councillors ruled last week that the garden was unsafe, following an inspection, and within 24 hours it was ripped up by town hall staff.

The £50,000 garden had contained concrete hand and footprints of youngsters helped by Caring Today, which provides respite care for dying and disabled children from its base in Brierfield Community Centre. These have now been destoyed.

Council bosses have insisted that the area, which had been targetted by vandals, had become a health and safety nightmare and they had little option but to step in and demolish it.

But charity chiefs are demanding to know how, when the garden was only handed over to the authority in the summer of 2007, it has been allowed to degenerate so swiftly.

Feeraz Begum, Caring Today's co-ordinator, claimed the council failed to inform the charity about its intentions for the sensory garden.

She said: "The worst thing for parents is to lose a memory of your disabled child who has died. It is just shocking.

“I have had telephone calls from parents who have seen what has happened who are in tears.

"The board here is absolutely livid, we should have been informed."

She said that the garden was first created in 2006 and Pendle council agreed to take over its management in the summer of 2007. She has insisted that the garden was not intended for wider public use.

"We have lost all of our memorials of children who have died. There were handprints and footprints of children, and photos of those who did not have hands or feet.

"There was no consideration by the council. They have let down disabled children and it is just like we have been pushed back into the Dark Ages."

Carol Gardner's son is one of the children who had his hand prints in the garden.

She said: "The news is very upsetting.

"There has been a lot of hard work put into the hand prints and foot prints in the garden so it’s really sad.

"My son Richard, who is 11, had his prints there, so all I can say is that its really upsetting to hear the news the garden had been knocked down."

Staff from the charity have tried to contact the council in a bid to retrieve some of the garden features but now fear they have been dumped by the demolition crew.

Peter Slater, chairman of Caring Today, said: "The council did not consult with us at all and they really should have.

"The parents of the children we support were involved in designing the garden so it’s so insensitive what has happened here.”

Parks staff at Pendle council have said that space was provided for the sensory garden in Victoria Park as a 'goodwill gesture' and the authority assumed responsibility for it in summer 2007 at Caring Today's request.

But an independent inspection of the site, as part of a borough-wide review, had highlighted a number of health and safety issues.

Colin Patten, parks manager, said: "The safety of children is a top priority for us and we had no choice but to remove the play area quickly.

"The problem is that the handprints which was part of the structure was created over four years ago in wet concrete.

"The elements have taken their toll, the concrete has perished and was crumbling.

"The last thing we would want to do is cause any upset and we are sorry for any distress we may have inadvertently caused by not explaining this to them.

"As requested by Caring Today we have returned the garden gates, with their crest on it, to them."