Parents and children left a council meeting in tears last night after the council agreed to close down much-loved adventure playgrounds.

Families protested outside Watford Town Hall to save the supervised adventure play areas in Harebreaks and Harwoods, before and after the cabinet meeting.

But they were ignored by Watford Borough Council, that said closing the sites and losing 16 members of staff would save them £250,000 a year.

Sophie Wilson, a 35-year-old mother who spearheaded the campaign to save the parks, said: “I feel very emotional right now. I said everything I wanted to say for the people of Watford.

“I feel my voice was heard tonight, but not listened to. They don’t want to listen to what we have to say.

“Vulnerable children get much needed emotional support and care at those playgrounds, and now that’s been taken away.”

A mother-of-two, Eva Krizova, was weeping as she left the town hall.

She said: “I don’t believe what I’ve just seen. It’s going to break the kids’ hearts.

“My children have been going to the site since they were two years old. It’s my second home.

“A normal playground can’t give children the same thing that those play areas give them.”

Families stormed out the meeting when Watford's elected mayor and chairwoman of the cabinet, Dorothy Thornhill, said playgrounds like those at Harebreaks and Harwoods were facilities "most other councils got rid of long ago".

Describing the decision as one of the most difficult in her time of being mayor, mayor Thornhill said she had to “take a hard and different approach”.

She said: “Last night was very difficult. People didn’t come wanting to hear what we had to say. They wanted a protest – that was what they were there to do.

“We knew that people would be upset, they are losing a service that they value - we were between a rock and a hard place but ultimately we feel we made the right decision.

“Most councils don’t run these facilities. Most are closed. We’re not doing anything different to other places.”

Mayor Thornhill said replacing the supervised adventure grounds with new playground equipment would turn what was an “expensive provision that serviced a few” into a “universal play area that could be used by most”.

However, Mrs Wilson highlighted that a petition to save the playgrounds had gathered more than 2,500 signatures in a week.

She said: “These playgrounds are places where children feel safe. They provide a place for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and their families, to grow and learn and receive support.

“Standard, generic playgrounds can’t offer that.”

Councillor Nigel Bell, who represents Holywell, said: “It shocks me that in the council’s report there is not one mention of the unique history and quality of these sites.

“Parents will lose the unobtrusive and trusted supervisors on site who watched out for their kids. Dorothy is a mayor who is out of touch with her residents.”

Parents also voiced concerns over drug use in the park, that they fear will increase once supervised staff are taken away.

However, mayor Thornhill said the area has never been known as a “hotspot” for drugs and that these allegations came “completely out the left field”.