A MEMORIAL garden has been blocked off after a fence was put up on a public field without permission.  

Metal fences have blocked off approximately a quarter of Howard Road field in Dines Green after a Redrow development's contractor placed it on Worcester City Council grounds.

The public field is commonly used for sporting activities and has a memorial to mark the death of one of the residents.

But the memorial has been blocked off from public access after Redrow placed the fencing on council property instead of their development, which is building 2,300 homes on Oldbury Road.

Councillor Richard Udall said the situation is more than unfortunate for Dines Green residents who have to deal with restrictions to their playing field.

"It has deprived access to certain areas of the field like a memorial garden, and consequently Worcester City Council said Redrow needs to provide a reason why it's been placed there or remove it," he said.

"It is more than unfortunate. It has been some time since the memorial, and a few people have been impacted by not being able to access the facility and a major green space for Dines Green and St John's."

Worcester City Council said it is investigating the matter and has been liaising with Redrow over the fencing. 

A spokesperson for Worcester City Council said: "We can confirm that no work is to be carried out in the area of woodland which has been fenced off and that access to the playing field has not been restricted."

Paul Shaw, managing director for Redrow Midlands, said: "We're sorry that fencing installed by our contractor was inadvertently extended through a part of Worcester City Council's land.

"As soon as this was brought to our attention on Friday, we made arrangements for the fencing to be removed. This will be completed today (Wednesday)."