A PARK plagued by antisocial behaviour after being left unlocked at weekends is set to be locked overnight for at least the next three years.

Florence Park, in Cowley, Oxford, is expected to benefit from a £44,500 cash injection to pay for refurbishing its toilets and pavilion.

Welcome signs will also be installed in a bid for the park to get green flag status - meaning the area is up to scratch according to the Civic Trust, a national organisation which monitors park standards.

Residents living near the park reported problems of vandalism, graffiti, noise disturbance and discarded needles and condoms, after the park was left unlocked overnight at weekends.

Oxford City Council's Cowley area committee had stepped in to pay for it to be locked until the end of March.

However, funding of £10,000 a-year has now been agreed by the council, allowing the park to be locked on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings and unlocked in the mornings.

John Todd, chairman of Friends of Florence Park, said: "We are delighted.

"It was a bit of a bolt from the blue, but a very pleasant one.

"It is an issue which is very important to everybody in the neighbourhood, both from the point of view of the park staying as it should and just for general peace of mind for people living around here.

"There are things in Florence Park which have become a little run down and need improvement.

"These are the things which let the park down and let the community down."

The council's parks department had suggested ripping up the park's flowerbeds to pay for it to be locked - a suggestion which angered local people and supporters of Oxford in Bloom - for which the park is a showcase.

Mr Todd said: "The only option they could see to allow them to continue to lock the park on their budget was to lose the flowers.

"That plan was awfully unpopular.

"This now means the council will be able to continue financing the locking up, without that worry - certainly for the next three years, which is excellent news."

But he said the park still needed further funding.

Florence Park Road resident and member of the Friends Sue Hallett said: "It is a relief and we are very pleased. Now we have got a breathing space for three years."

Shah Khancor, who represents Cowley on Oxford City Council, had campaigned for the park to be locked.

He said: "I struggled but we got it through in the end. There are a lot of older people who live around here and they are concerned about antisocial behaviour and people going into the park and breaking into their gardens.

"There were needles there and graffiti sprayed on the play area.

"I am now very relieved because it means the beauty of the park, all those lovely flowers, are safe."

The council's Cowley area committee will tonight decide whether to approve the £44,500 funding.