Quick! The Telegraph would like your comments on the great British sandpit shortage

we had a good one near us when we were in London

clean and well-kept

not many cats about though (and no dogs allowed in the children's park) plus it's locked at night

now we have many great playgrounds but no sand

In terms of a cover that some people are suggesting - I'm not sure how big most of them are, but the ones local to me are huge - like the size of a suburban garden - and have their own climbing frames and slides and so on, actually in the sand pit.

You couldn't cover it yourself - it would take a team of people and possibly a crane in the case of some of the bigger climbing frames.

I don't think our council bothers covering it - it's securely fenced against domestic animals (and surrounded by busy roads) and although there are probably wild animals within the park, I wouldn't imagine they are too much of a problem. I think they just rake it every day.

We dont have sandpits near us....obviously being so close to the sea we dont need them!

However I would only use one if it was well maintained and not used as a toilet for cats etc.....not dissimilar to some of the local beaches where dog owners dont pick up!

I have no idea where our nearest sandpit is (apart from the one in our garden!).

I think the trouble is that they are very likely to attract dogs, cats and older teenage kids who may not treat them with respect and therefore they need a lot more regular looking after than swings and slides etc. With councils cutting their spending wherever possible this is probably why they seem to be on the decrease.

Actually, thinking about it a bit more - perhaps because we have a massive sandy beach in our town the council don't think we need them in the parks!

we have to keep our sandpit at home covered when not is use due to the cats.... they really are attracted to it as a loo!

i'm in ireland and have never seen a public sandpit here, shame really.

surely they could put some sort of cover on it that the parents could lift off and simply put back on when leaving... a hinged lid of some decription maybe?

my kids play with nothing else for longer than 5 mins but will play in sand for hours.

They have a Trust for truss purchasing, I dimly remember, and a fund for retired butlers. Very sound.

I don't know of any near me except at the local kids farm. My ds loves it. I remember one in all the parks by us when I was growing up. Its a shame to see them phased out. That said, we don't have one at home but only because we haven't bothered buying one!

There was a huge sandpit in Carlisle and the kids loved playing in it. It had diggers and sieves and water and all kinds of stuff! It was the most popular feature of the park.

I haven't found one yet here in Wiltshire.

But my kids just love playing with sand. Yes, it gets everywhere, but they're having fun! It encourages them to use their imaginations, it helps hand/eye co-ordination, for kids with special needs it constitutes a safe area to play in.

So often now, kiddies parks have your typical swings, slides, roundabout and climbing frame. Brilliant for kids with agility. But for kids who aren't agile, or for very young children, the sandpit offered them a chance to play too.

I'm all for sandpits. I understand they must be a nightmare to keep clean and hygienic, but we pay our council tax don't we?

We use two in Highgate Wood that are very popular. This park is clearly not short on resources and is looked after brilliantly by the City of London Corporation (I have no affiliations!). Another great sandpit nearby is Queen's Park and actually also Golder's Hill Park on Hampstead Heath and - surprise, surprise - after a bit of googling it seems they are all looked after by City of London corporation. It has to come down to cash at the end of the day. Parks and local councils making cutbacks just won't do the checks and maintenance required. I remember finding the rotting carcass of a Jay with maggots and all as a child - that was a science lesson I could have done without! I think sandpits have always had the potential to be dodgy but in our era of 'health and safety' paranoia and legal fears we are no longer willing to take risks. Playing with sand is such an important part of growing up. I'd be miserable if I lived in an area less well covered.

FWIW, as kids in the 60s, neither dh nor I remember sandpits in public parks. There were lots of people with home made sandpits at home though - even we had one! Heaven knows where the sand came from though I have a very vague recollection of it being replenished occasionally; probably builders' sand.

Our cats always pooed in it but it didn't worry anyone, the turds would be covered in sand by the time we found them and we'd just chuck them in the flower bed. It might be why The Parents got rid of the sandpit in the end though!

I agree with crouchingtigger.

We used to play out alone in the fields and river behind my grandparents' house. No-one was picking up the fox poo there, that's for sure.

To be honest the biggest poo risk to my kids is the walk to the park, which is absolutely littered with crap.

In comparison I'm not too worried about the sandpit.

In terms of drunks/needles etc, the park has an 8 foot fence around and is locked at dusk so they'd have to be pretty lively and enthusiastic drunks to get all the way over to the sandpit. The play area is also fenced again (against dogs). You probably get a fair bit of goose/duck poo in there but so what?

I know of only one sand pit locally - it is in a local garden where you have to pay to enter - so I suspect no dogs, cats, broken glass etc

I think of them as cat toilets
DS and dd not really bothered by their disappearance - we have a small one in the garden anyway

I don't worry about stuff in the sand much although broken glass is very not good.

ohdearwhatamess you must be near us as we are about 5 miles from Letchworth. Not sure if the park there does have any sand or not any more - although we go into Letchworth often we're not normally at that park. I think the paddling pool there is operating again at the moment.

There isn't any sand in our village playground - not sure where other than Letchworth is a near one.

whereabouts do you all live with your sandpitty parks?

there are sandpits in all of our local parks. I haven't noticed them disappearing. All 5 of my children have loved them - and still do - I would really miss them too as they keep the children occupied for hours with minimal involvement from me

I sometimes think about cats etc, but none of mine have been ill so far, and we have cats at home that are more likely to infect the dcs anyway.

We have four parks we can walk to with sandpits, we use them all, DD (17mths)absolutely loves them. I try not to think too hard about the hygiene issue; if you get there first thing in the morning that sand has visibly been raked since the day before and anyway I doubt if she'll consume a full peck of dirt there. Less than a peck is ok by my reckoning.

they're building lots more natural play parks in the UK have tons of money being ploughed into it. surprised telegraph didn't know.

We have one in our local park and my DCs love it. I am a bit unsure about cat wee, etc being in it but then again they roll around on the grass where cats could also have wee-ed. I think parents are too paranoid these days.

We worry too much these days! As a child I remember playing in rivers, coming out with leeches stuck on my legs. Crossing weirs for a dare. Building dens in dark corners of woods, climbing trees etc. Yes, I fell sometimes, hurt myself, scared myself. I came across condoms, porn mags, half drunk bottle of meths and dead cats. I am still alive.
Finding poo or a condom in a sandpit isn't nice, but really it isn't a big deal. Chances of 'contamination' are small, and we need to build up immune systems anyway. If something nasty is found - take it away and put it in a bin. Don't let these sort of anxieties stop your children from having fun

Whiteley Village shopping centre (near Fareham, Hants) has a lovely one. Even has an eye washout station in case of accident, and clothes brushes attached to the wall of a close by shop.

There's a sandpit near us, the park is spotlesslt clean and really well maintained. The council digs all the sand out every so often and replaces it all. The sandpit is used in all weathers and one the most popular things in the park.

I do pay a shedload in council tax though, but at least I can see I get some benefit from it.

we have a fabulous sandpit near us in Finsbury Park. It is great and always full, even on rainy days. There is plenty of sand in there (enough to lose many a bucket!) and it's always well maintained and clean.

I would be devastated if it closed - so would DS. We allow our children far too little grubbing and digging time these days and as many London children don't have gardens it's often their only chance to potter about with bare feet and a spade.

All the children take their buckets and other toys and it is one of the few places in the park they really interact and share. Other park facilities promote a turn-and-turn about kind of playing, which is valuable too, but it's not as interactive as a sandpit. Most parents treat the toys as communal while they are in the sandpit and encourage their children to share them with others and swap spades etc. You rarely see this with - say - scooters or footballs. And as a parent I have met many other mothers and fathers standing at the side of the sandpit watching our children building their own worlds.

Our next two parks, Priory Park and Clissold Park, also have sandpits, equally well-used by the local community. By the sounds of it we are very lucky.

[wipes eye]

I wouldn't take my children to one, who knows what would be in it.