Broomsticks and devil's forks deemed hazardous for Brit kids' health!

London, Oct 25 : British nursery Langham Pre-School, near Colchester, Essex, has banned kids from bringing in broomsticks and pitchforks or other such objects during Hallowe'en.

Due to health and safety fears, the pre-school's committee decided upon the ban, especially after a child was hurt last year.

However, it did not sit well with the parents, who have criticised it as health and safety gone too far.

Sally Cowley, a 39-year-old mother-of-two who runs the nearby Boxted mother and toddler group, finds the decision sad.

"I think it's sad it has come to this. It's the same as banning conkers," the Telegraph quoted her as saying.

"I think we need to really think sensibly about things before we ban them, rather than being pushed into doing something because someone says something might happen," she said.

The fancy-dress party, which is held at the village community centre, has been running for six years in a row, and it is the nursery's main fundraiser, attracting about 100 children and their families.

John Smith, who is the pre-school committee's chairman and a primary school headteacher, defended the decision.

"It was not a whim, it was a considered decision," he said.

"Last year, a child brought a full-size broomstick and another child got hurt.

"It's common practice when you have children running round you don't have broomsticks or forks," he stated.

A spokesman for the Pre-school Learning Alliance added: "Banning broomsticks at a Halloween party, however well-meaning, is taking health and safety a little to the extreme."

ANI