GANGS of children are risking their lives by leaping over a 40ft drop between abandoned buildings.

The children have been seen clambering over the roofs of a derelict pub and doctors' surgery in Park South and jumping between buildings.

Police have appealed for parents to make their young-sters aware of the dangers of the former Cock Robin pub in Cavendish Square and the old surgery in Priory Road.

Police community support officer Julie Box said: "It's anti-social and it causes a nuisance and there's also the danger to themselves."

The youngsters, some as young as 11, jump from the roof of the Co-op to the pub.

PCSO Box said: "They're not just causing damage there but it's the danger they are in jumping from one roof to the other.

"No-one knows how strong the roofs are and if they fell then they would be in trouble."

The police have been into primary schools in the area to warn pupils about the dangers they face playing on these sites.

PCSO Box said: "With some of the kids it's getting through but not the older ones.

"There's a bit of status to it and they see it as a game."

At the former surgery in Priory Road where the gang often congregates, youths have torn off roof tiles, smashed windows and then ripped off the boarded up windows to get in.

PCSO Box said: "They take off the roof tiles so they can get in and to them it's a great game.

"It's been going on for a while and it's getting more dangerous now because there's broken glass and all sorts around.

"They take the tiles off then throw them down to see them smash.

"As well as being anti-social, there's a health and safety issue because if one of them slipped and fell they would have a few broken bones.

"If they have an accident it could be that nobody is aware that they have fallen through the roof. And if ambulance staff have to go in and get them out then that is putting other people at risk too."

Police say that the community is getting sick and tired of the trouble, particularly in Priory Road.

"People are upset by it," PCSO Box said.

"The surgery is a magnet for kids now, especially with the holidays and lighter evenings."

Viewpoint

SWINDON councillor Steve Allsopp said that the council is dragging its heels over the demolition of the old surgery.

Coun Allsopp (Lab, Parks) said action should be taken quickly to deal with the derelict surgery in Priory Road, near the soon-to-be redeveloped Cavendish Square "The surgery has been boarded up for a few months, but recently some of the boards have been pulled off and youngsters have been getting inside," he said.

"I have noticed a few tiles going missing and it's only a matter of time before the building becomes more of a magnet for anti-social behaviour, particularly with the weather improving.

"It's a particularly worrying for the people living at the rear of the surgery, many of whom are elderly."

The building is expected to be demolished as part of the redevelopment of the shopping square, along with other buildings in the area.

"The sooner this building is down the better it will be. The council should not drag its heels and delay knocking it down."