Watford Mayor Dorothy Thornhill last night (Wednesday) rejected calls for her to apologise for her “damaging public comments” that opponents said turned the town into a national laughing stock after parents were “banned” from an adventure playground.

The decision to exclude parents from play sessions at Harwoods Adventure Playground, one of Watford's two council-run facilities, hit the national headlines last month when angry parents claimed they had been banned from supervising their children.

Watford Borough Council has since admitted an error that saw new Ofsted regulations blamed for the decision but maintained that following a “number of incidents”, play workers could not properly supervise children in their care if parents were allowed on the premises.

At the first full council meeting held since the controversy, which reappeared on BBC's One Show on Tuesday, Labour councillor Nigel Bell called for the Mayor to apologise for her remarks which, he said, led “to Watford sadly becoming a laughing stock across the country and a byword for unnecessary, bureaucratic and political correctness”.

He said: “She continued to blame Government policy even when she could see that wasn't the case.

“This is a very important issue. Watford's name has been dragged across the country.”

Mayor Thornhill expressed sympathy with parents who were upset, some of whom were seated in the public gallery, but rejected Councillor Bell's motion.

She said: “Nigel, I utterly refute the motion. If it was true or partly true I would have already made my apologies to the people of Watford.

“The reason the story went national was because people thought it was a [public] playground. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous. The fates conspired against us.

“The bottom line here is clearly there's a choice. Do we have a facility where parents come along and that's how it is or do we have a drop off facility. Both these ways are legitimate. We make a choice. It's hard when a policy changes but there are people who agree with it and that's what we're forgetting. Most of our parents do drop their children off. I have total sympathy if you don't like the policy. The reality is it would be the council who is responsible [for the welfare of the children].”

The Mayor also announced that a review of play facilities in Watford will now be conducted independently.

She said: “A review of our whole play facilities was already in the work programme and was planned. The review of play would have happened by now had we had the staffing to take it forward.”

During a heated, hour-long debate inside Watford Town Hall, several Liberal Democrat councillors voiced their support for the new policy.

Councillor Janet Baddeley said: “We must not forget the vast majority of parents are comfortable with the change of policy. Most children who use it arrive on their own or are dropped off by their parents.”

After lamenting the “absolute hysteria” in the national press, Councillor George Derbyshire compared Harwoods to a day care centre where the responsibility of care lies with staff and not parents.

He said: “It's always been the case at Harebreaks (Adventure Playground) that parents have always been required to drop their children off and leave them in the care of paid professionals at the centre. This had not been as rigorously enforced as at Harebreaks but it was becoming clear it was impeding the work of staff left in their care if parents were allowed to roam freely at that centre.”

Councillor Kelly McLeod also backed for the Mayor.

“I feel Mayor Thornhill has done her utmost to represent Watford to make it a place to be proud of,” she said.

”As the face of Watford she has done her best in a very trying time.”

Meanwhile, Councillor Jan Brown (Liberal Democrat) stood up to defend the Mayor from the “personal attack” and “point scoring” led by Councillor Bell, despite attempts to drown her out from the opposition benches.

She said: “What blatant hypocrisy from Councillor Bell, a member of the Labour Party, of accusing the Mayor of turning Watford into a laughing stock. This from a Government that has introduced rules and regulations into every part of our lives.

“What makes Watford a laughing stock further more is our illustrious MP [Claire ward] who like an invisible woman pops up at the sound of a General Election.”

Following a vote among members, Councillor Bell's motion was dismissed.

Many national newspapers picked up the story after the Watford Observer first revealed that parents had received letters informing them they would no longer be allowed to supervise their own children at Harwoods Adventure Playground, in Harwoods Road.

Then on Tuesday, the issue reappeared on the One Show, on BBC One, during an item that questioned whether child protection regulations had “gone too far”.

Speaking to cameras outside Harwoods Adventure Playground, Becky Makinson said she no longer took her sons to the play sessions after hearing the council's decision.

She said: “I felt really disappointed and devastated that they had made this decision. I felt it painted a really bad picture of me as a parent that I was not to be trusted watching my own children in a playground that I have used for years.”

Mo Koyejo said: “Since when are we not allowed to play with our children. I don't understand. I just don't get it.”

Watford MP Claire Ward, who also appeared on the programme, added: “They have blamed it on Government policy and it's been quite clear it isn't Government policy. It isn't Ofsted policy either. What we actually need now is a bit of common sense.”