After 40 years serving the most vulnerable children in Brent Labour councillors voted to close the borough’s only remaining playground in Stonebridge.

At a full council meeting last night at the Civic Centre in Engineers Way, Wembley, the decision was taken to close the doors of Stonebridge Adventure Playground in Shakespeare Avenue.

It will cease operating on April 1.

With no explanation, Cllr Muhammed Butt told the meeting: “We can no longer fund Stonebridge Adventure Playground.”

Doug and Glynis Lee MBE, who have run the centre since it opened in 1976, did not attend the meeting saying it would be like “witnessing a final execution”.

Mr Lee said: “This being the most deprived ward in the borough means the decision to cut the adventure playground is not based on any sound financial basis. It is based on a personal grudge which is being held for a reason we do not understand against the playground and the community who use it.

“The day we close is the first day of the Easter holidays. It will be the first time in 40 years that there will be nowhere for the children to go.”

Martin Francis, Trustee of Brent Play Association and Brent Green party spokesperson on Children and Families, said: “The decision to close Stonebridge Adventure Playground is a blow against the young, the vulnerable and the poor by an administration steeped in hypocrisy and falsehood.

“It will have a long-term detrimental impact that may have far-reaching consequences for community cohesion.”