School slams 'outrageous behaviour' stopping playing field fence work

Local residents blocked the start of work to fence off a section of an open space in Bristol on Monday as a long-running row about a school playing field turned ugly.

 

Protesters from a campaign group called ‘We Love Stoke Lodge’ prevented work beginning to erect a fence around part of the open space in Westbury-on-Trym, with what the school described as ‘outrageous behaviour’.

 

Cotham School has been embroiled in a long-running saga for years to try to secure an area of Stoke Lodge for PE lessons, but when work finally began to erect a fence, contractors found a small army of local residents blocking their way.

 

The drama began soon after 8am on Monday morning, when the first contractors from a fencing company arrived at Stoke Lodge to set up their base and begin groundwork for the controversial fence.