POTENTIALLY lethal knife blades and broken glass were dug up by toddlers playing at a new children’s centre in Poole.

The disturbing discoveries were made at the Branksome Children’s Centre in Poole Road, which has only been offering its services for a matter of days.

The children were playing with spades and toys at the new facility when they unearthed the sharp items in flower beds. No one was hurt but a full investigation has now been launched by Poole council.

Parent James Tedder said: “I’m horrified at what happened and I don’t think I’ll be returning.

“There were areas for the children to dig in and a few parents looked horrified as the children were holding glass and digging it up.

“I also heard some of the parents say that a knife had been found by one of the kids.”

The £700,000 Sure Start centre has not been officially opened yet, but has started to offer its services.

Another parent, who asked not to be named, said she was “disgusted and shocked” by the discoveries.

“If children are playing in these areas then they should be clean and free for them to play in,” she said.

“I am gobsmacked to hear about it in a centre where they are supposed to be allowed to play safely.”

Vicky Wales, head of children and young people’s integrated services, Borough of Poole said: “We have taken this incident very seriously and were as shocked as the parents at what has happened.

“A full risk assessment of the building and garden was undertaken before activities started but we had assumed that the soil in the plant containers filled by the contractors, did not contain anything dangerous.

“We apologised to parents at the time and immediately took steps to prevent any children being harmed as we take our responsibilities for safeguarding the children and parents’ welfare extremely seriously.

“We were in contact with the building contractors straight away and they have changed all the soil in the beds to ensure that nothing like this happens again.

“We are now awaiting the outcome of their investigation as to how this could have happened.”