Only council-vetted "play rangers" are allowed to monitor youngsters in two adventure areas in Watford while parents must watch from outside a perimeter fence.
The Watford Borough Council policy has been attacked as insulting and a disgrace by furious relatives. It will further fuel concerns over a growing nanny state amid the deepening row over the Government's new national anti-paedophile database. At least 11 million adults have to be vetted to work with children or vulnerable adults, including parents who give rides to and from social or sports clubs.
Parents already have to register their child on arrival at the free playgrounds. But now only those who are vetted can enter the sites, which are surrounded by six foot high steel and wooden fences.
