RESIDENTS living close to Poole’s Alexandra Park say the area has become a magnet for antisocial behaviour.

Yesterday, the Echo reported how charity bosses described a “nightmare” situation after a bowling green leased from the council was ‘taken over by drug addicts and rough sleepers’.

Now families living close to the park, and Parkstone residents who use the area for recreation, have echoed these sentiments.

Parkstone resident Susan Moore, who used to bring her young child to the play area at the park, said: “I have witnessed drug taking and drug dealing here on more than one occasion.

“I don’t want to say I’d never come here again, because it is such a lovely place, but it is unfair a certain element can take over.”

One nearby resident, who asked not to be named, said she often hears neighbours talking about discarded needles being found in wooded areas at either end of the park.

“Towards the end of last year we had a guy come into our back garden, completely out of it, and collapse out there. I was at home on my own with young children, it was frightening.

“We got a gate pretty quickly after that.” Other neighbours said the issues with drug taking and dealing have eased slightly in recent weeks, following the closure of two squats on nearby Poole Road.

Meanwhile, a resident - who lived close to the park entrance - said: “It is not too bad really. Yes, we get disturbances but I think it is the sort of thing you’d get anywhere today.

“This is still a real nice, family-friendly area to live. The park is not a no-go zone by any stretch of the imagination.”

The Harbour Challenge Outdoor Activity Centre took on the green and pavilion last year, but charity bosses say they’ve now abandoned the site.

Borough of Poole said: “The site has been suffering from a recent increase in antisocial behaviour. The council and the charity are working together to undertake a series of improvements to the facility which we hope will resolve the situation.”