ALLOTMENT holders in Hapton say their safety and the welfare of dozens of animals is being jeopardised by a recreation ground’s locked gate.

A row has erupted between the owners of a smallholding, behind the field, off Carter Avenue, which is home to goats, pigs, chickens and ducks, and Hapton Parish Council over access.

Gardeners claim a 40-year-old agreement with the parish has been torn up after the padlock was changed on an access barrier.

But parish councillors say they are seeking legal advice over access rights and have refused to discuss the matter further until their May meeting.

Pamela Shillito, whose daughter Jessica owns the plots, said: “What happens to the health and safety of the animals until then?”

Protesters are also deeply concerned that, with a number of elderly and disabled people using the site, formerly owned by Jessica’s grandfather William Haslam, emergency services would struggle to reach them in a crisis.

Mrs Shillito said: “I have already had two heart attacks.

"Am I going to have to wait until someone arrives with bolt cutters to get through this lock?”

Parish council chairman Coun Christine Puckett-Gouldin confirmed that claims that parish clerk Jo Garrigan had a key would be investigated.

She told a parish meeting the council had ‘no knowledge’ of the padlock being changed.