A nine-year-old girl has written a heartfelt plea to the owner of a former playground, asking him to clean up the land so she and her friends can continue playing there.

Rebecca Fagg, of Freemen’s Way, was so incensed after hearing that the private owner has refused to mow the grass and replace the play equipment, that she wrote to the Mercury asking for our help.

For some years the land has been neglected, with grass reaching hip height. And until recently, the outdated play equipment was a safety threat to youngsters who play there.

The landowner has since removed it and told DDC it will not be replaced.

His refusal to mow the grass has resulted in many complaints from residents, so the district council has been forced into doing it - at the tax payer’s expense.

"The minute the letter came through the post, Rebecca said she wanted to write to the Mercury" - Proud mum, Emma Fay

A flier, posted to the local residents by Dover District Council, reveals the owner, who has been elusive for years, has responded to the council’s questions and intends to do nothing.

The letter also says the council has also offered to accept a transfer of the land so it can be maintained by the council as open space, but to date the landowner has declined.

Rebecca’s parents Emma Fay and Daniel Fagg, said: “The minute the letter came through the post, Rebecca said she wanted some paper and a pen so she could write to the Mercury.

“She is such a good little girl, I am so proud of her.”

Rebecca, who attends The Downs C of E School, is one of the children who play out in the park and on the grass.

In the summer it gets so long that some of the children go home with bites from insects. For others it triggers allergies, Miss Fay said.

The youngsters just want to play football or practise gymnastics.

Cllr Sid Pollitt, the DDC ward councillor, said: “The council managed to track the landowner down a few years ago when they were doing the Land Allocations for the Local Plan.

“There was a previous inspector’s report when he wanted the land to be reclassified as brownfield land and appealed after it was decided it was greenfield land. Before that he was elusive.

“It’s a step forward that he has taken the equipment away and put a fence around it.

“There will be a meeting held by the community development team in early January to look at options and ideas to move it forward.”

MP Charlie Elphicke, who in October 2014 got a team of volunteers together to mow the grass, said: “I’m delighted that DDC has been mowing the grass at Freemen’s Way.

“It has made a massive improvement to residents’ quality of life and I hope that the play area will be able to be replaced in due course.

“However the owner of the ground should step up and take responsibility and should not leave the tax payer to foot the bill.

“I hope the council will be able to persuade the landowner to make a proper contribution.”