CHILDREN as young as ten have been caught on security cameras setting fire to a park on a Darlington estate.

Firthmoor community leaders say the youngsters are putting their lives at risk by lighting the fires in Alderman Crooks Park.

Peter Bowerbank, from Darlington Borough Council's closed-circuit television camera team, said children were caught on film targeting a play area being built in the park.

"Alderman Crooks is a problem at the moment," he said. "We have got a camera there now. It is young children lighting fires there.

"They have set fire to the bushes and set fire to some of the play equipment. They are not youths; they are youngsters under ten. It's got out of hand."

Eastbourne councillor Lee Vasey, the council's cabinet member for leisure and parks, said: "When kids start playing with fire they can burn themselves. We don't want anyone getting hurt."

Firthmoor beat officer PC Chris Horner said police planned to visit schools on the estate with fire safety officers.

"I think bombarding them with this safety message is the best thing," he said.

He said the estate also had a problem with children trespassing on the building site at the new Moorfield housing development and on the railway line at Edgemoor Road. "I don't think they are aware of the dangers," he said.

"The kids will find a way to destroy the fences. It turns into a challenge for some of them. They can get on to the railway line and on to the building site and they can throw things from the railway line and smash windows."

Station Officer Kevin Hart, from Darlington fire station, said children in the park were endangering themselves and wasting valuable fire service time.

"Playing with fire is dangerous and can kill or maim," he said. "There is also the cost and time involved in getting out there to put the fires out when there could be an emergency elsewhere."