LESS than one in 10 children will be allowed to play out more than once a week this summer because parents are worried about safety.

It's a sad condemnation of society, but altogether now, did I hear the cheer 'thank goodness' go up.

Many parents admit they let their children play out a lot less than they did themselves. It's a shame, but no wonder, with the massive increase in traffic and number of maniacs about.

The Safe Kids Campaign, run by the Child Accident Prevention Trust, said 30,000 children aged seven to 14 are injured at play during the summer.

A survey of 2,000 parents found them so worried, many hardly ever let their offspring play out alone.

Three in four were afraid of strangers approaching their infants, while four in 10 worried about them crossing the road.

Eight in 10 said there were not enough play areas near their homes.

There weren't in my day, but we were safe enough to play in the carless streets and walk to the parks.

In Westleigh, parents' biggest fear was not their children being run over by cars on the main road, but by a pit train which crossed Westleigh Lane near Maple Crescent.

If today's seemingly extra-noisy children are kept indoors, they're losing out on the social and physical activity of play.

Perhaps parents should lobby for more safe play areas. They did on Leigh's Higher Folds and last week, three spanking new areas for different age groups were opened at the heart of the estate on Richmond Drive.