SLOUGH Borough Council have been criticised for their running of Harvey Park by angry clients that pay to use the playing field.

Wendy Foster is involved with three football teams and signed a £3,000 contract with the council to use the park as a home ground.

Half of the fee was paid when the season started in September but Foster is angered by weeks of unfit facilities and uncertainty over fixture confirmation.

An angry Foster told the Observer: “Harvey Park is our favourite place to play as the boys like the pitches, they are generally pretty good, and it’s local to where we live.

“But, right from the start of our contract, we’ve not had full use of the facilities. Each week there is something different.

“Dirty changing rooms where we have had to sweep out the mud ourselves; gates not open so no access to the car park which means we have had to park on the road; shutters down so no access to the changing rooms and the showers have never been warm, they are always freezing cold.

“It’s outrageous the changing rooms have not been cleaned.

“It upsets our teams, opponents and the officials because we have to provide facilities for them all.

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: Wendy Foster believes the treament given by Slough Borough Council to users of Harvey Park is a "complete shambles".

“We’ve now been given keys to additional changing rooms but have been thrown out by others who have the same keys, so we use the corridor to change in.

“We’ve also been told we can play at Harvey Park so long as we don’t enter the changing rooms, but other teams moan and rightly so.”

Foster continued: “We have to confirm East Berkshire League matches by Tuesday or get a club fine, but we’re still chasing the council on a Wednesday and it’s been as late as Friday to confirm some games.”

She added: “When we have to pay this sort of money the treatment we get is unacceptable, it’s a shambles.

“It has been a complete shambles from the start of the season and I’ve sent e-mails of complaint week after week.

“We have been a customer to the council for years and can’t pull out because we’ve signed the paperwork, but I’m not going to pay another penny until we get something done about this.”

The council has since promised users that work will be done to fix the shower facilities and that the site will be kept up to scratch in the future.

A council spokesman said: “Some of the shower heads need replacing and, in order to comply with health and safety laws, we’ve had to shut the whole system down until the work is complete.

“Unfortunately, it’s been hard to get hold of the particular shower heads we need.

“The facilities have been out of action since October due to the issue with the showers.

“However, replacements are on their way and the work will be done over the next few days with a view to opening again as soon as possible.

“We will be taking people’s concerns on board to ensure the facilities are kept up to scratch.”

What do you think? Has Slough Borough Council acted quickly enough or are users right to vent their anger and frustration?

E-mail your thoughts to rob.stevens@newsquest.co.uk