The Local Government Ombudsman has found Oxford City Council guilty of maladministration over the building of a skatepark in Jericho.

The council has agreed to pay £2,500 to a couple who complained about the park in Aristotle Lane, which closed a month after it opened.

Ombudsman Jerry White said the council should have carried out noise tests before building the park.

The £37,000 skate park was closed in May 2002 after tests commissioned by a resident revealed noise levels constituted a statutory nuisance.

Mr White said: "The skatepark was put near the housing and the residents had raised concerns about noise. As soon as the skatepark opened there was a barrage of complaints about noise and it was decided it could not be made nuisance-free.

"If there had been proper planning it would not have been built there in the first place."

Mr White said councils across the UK were learning that skateparks could be problematic and were potentially noisy structures.

Sharon Cosgrove, the council's strategic director for the physical environment, said: "The council accepts that it made mistakes in this case.

"We are determined to learn from them and we will pay the couple near the site the amount of compensation suggested by the Ombudsman.

"There are no proposals for any similar skate sites in residential areas."