PARENTS were alarmed after a knife was found in a packed children’s ball pool in Poole Park.

An adult uncovered the yellow-handled three-inch blade from beneath the balls at Gus Gorilla’s Playground on Sunday.

Michelle Sanders, from Parkstone, who was there with nine-year-old daughter Kacie and a school friend, said: “A man picked the knife out of the ball pit and asked me to hand it in.

“A member of staff said sorry and that it had never happened before.

“I thought it was disgusting. I probably won’t go back there again.”

Ms Sanders insisted she wanted everybody to be alerted to the discovery.

“I started telling parents and a few of them left,” she said.

“I demanded that the whole thing be investigated and all the balls taken out.

“If there was a sharp knife in the pool, anything could have been down the slide or in the babies’ part. It might have been there for weeks and anyone could have been cut.”

Now she is worried Kacie will always be scared of going in ball pits.

Gary Skinner, manager at the Central Park complex, said: “As soon as the knife was found we emptied the pool of children.

“A customer was not happy and said that it would be best to check all the balls too, so I did.

“We’ve obviously had many things lost in the ball pool before and we cannot check everybody when they come in or know what will drop out of their pockets.

“In hindsight it was a straight shutdown situation and if there was any confusion I apologise.”

The ball pool balls are washed twice a year and the premises checked annually, he said.