Parents opposed to the loss of green space much loved by their children will be staging a protest - by holding a picnic.

There is widespread opposition from parents of pupils at The Slade Primary School to plans by Tonbridge and Malling council to extend the Castle Fields car park in Tonbridge into an area of green space used by children after class.

Helen Vincent, who has a seven-year-old at the school, explained: “This space is used daily by the children.

“It’s true that the Racecourse Sportsground is not far away but that floods frequently and is more or less unusable between November and March at least.

“Our green space doesn’t flood and is used for picnics and informal school photographs all the time.

“It also provides a safe walkway to the school, which is particularly important because the Slade includes a centre for children with hearing impairment.

“We really don’t accept the council’s argument that extending the car park will bring in more revenue from those attending events at the castle.

“If you are visiting the castle and can’t park at Upper Castle Fields, you would simply park in one of the other car parks nearby. I think any benefit is very doubtful.”

Already an online petition opposing the car park extension has attracted 3,907 signatures.

This Friday (April 19), Mrs Vincent and other mums will be holding a picnic on the green at 3.30pm.

The exercise will be repeated, weather permitting, on Wednesday, April 24, this time at 4pm.

All those opposed to the car park extension are invited to join in whether they are parents at the school or live nearby.

The dates have been chosen to fall just before two council meetings at which the decision to extend the car park will be reviewed.

On Monday next week, the council’s Overview and Scrutiny committee meeting will consider all the recent decisions made by the council on parking issues, including the decision to charge for the first time in car parks at Aylesford and Larkfield, and in the High Street In West Malling.

Then on Tuesday, April 30, the council’s cabinet will meet to consider Upper Castle Fields again in light of the petition.

Mrs Vincent said: “I’m sure a lot of parents will be at both meetings.”

Cllr Matt Boughton, leader of the council, held out some hope for the protesters.

He said: “There are good arguments for and against the car park extension.

“When we held a public consultation on it that concluded in January, the results were split pretty much 50/50.

“The cabinet will listen carefully to what the scrutiny committee has to say and will consider the petition and then make our decision.”