A VANDALISED Chandler's Ford play area is to get a new lease of life after civic chiefs paved the way for a makeover costing about £27,000.

The area of public open space between Pennine Way and Stourvale Gardens has been a haunt for gatherings of older teenagers - and councillors were told there was evidence of substance abuse, particularly under-age drinking.

In September 2001, youths lit a bonfire which destroyed some of the safety matting and part of the play equipment. The heat of the fire was so intense that some of the metal structures were deemed unsafe and the facility has been closed ever since.

Now members of the borough council's Chandler's Ford and Hiltingbury local area committee have given the go-ahead for quotes to be obtained for replacement play equipment.

There are also plans to build a path from Pennine Way to Stourvale Gardens and a consultant is to be hired to advise on long-standing drainage problems at the site.

The move follows a public consultation exercise in which more than 350 local residents were asked for their views.

Councillor Ernie Pullen said some residents he had spoken to wanted trees and bushes near the entrance to Pennine Way cut back and kept that way because they were a "haven" for people taking drink and drugs.

Referring to the plans to put a footpath across the play space, Councillor Alan Broadhurst said: "If we can encourage more people to walk across there we will get less vandalism."

Committee chairman Councillor Godfrey Olson said he was concerned about the drainage of the land and added: "It would enable greater use to be made of the area if it wasn't waterlogged for much of the year."