KIDS will not be able to play in paddling pools outside council properties as civic chiefs announce plans to ban them.

Southampton residents have been left fuming after plans in the new council tenancy agreement suggest that paddling pools will be banned in communal areas outside council flats.

Sarah Parkhurst, a mother of two from Leckford Close, said the proposal is a terrible idea and that residents will argue against it.

But Southampton City Council (SSC) said they are "keen to hear from residents" and want to avoid preventing people using their communal areas.

Sarah said they received a letter from SCC at the beginning of last month stating new terms to their tenancy agreement.

The letter stated that in the new agreement "there are a list of items that tenants must not tamper with or obstruct in both their own property and communal areas".

It continued that "communal areas are not to be used for swimming pools, trampolines, sheds or similar".

Sarah, who has lived in one of the flat block on Leckford Court for ten years, said that residents have used their flat's communal area for swimming pools for as long as she has lived there.

She added: "We are going to argue this point to the council.

"We all take it in turns to watch the kids when they're outside so no one is never left unattended.

"We all get to sit together, we're a proper community.

"I think it's terrible they want to do this, especially when it's so hot."

A Southampton City Council spokesperson said: “We recently launched a consultation about proposed changes to council tenants’ Tenancy Agreement, which was last updated 16 years ago.

"Housing legislation has developed a lot in that time, so naturally our proposed changes reflect that and aim to protect, not restrict, tenants as they go about their everyday lives.

“What we don’t want to do is prevent tenants from using their communal and outside spaces in safe and considerate ways.

"We’re therefore keen to hear from anyone who feels they could be impacted by the proposals, before any decisions are made.

“We encourage as many people as possible to take part in the consultation between now and 16 October."