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 it.

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

Ombudsman Jerry 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."

Amanda Spriggs, of Plater Drive, north Oxford, said she was thrilled that the council had been found guilty of maladministration causing injustice.

Ms Spriggs, who was not awarded compensation said: "When the skatepark was built my son Rory, who is now 12, was so delighted he wrote to the council to say how pleased he was that they had provided this facility.

"Unfortunately, shortly afterwards he was forced to write a second letter saying how disappointed he was that it was being closed.

"It was a hugely maladministered scheme due to lack of communication, and was a terrible waste of funds."

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

In reaching his decision, Mr White said he was "mindful that no acceptable noise reduction measures could be identified to enable the skatepark to reopen".

The £2,500 will compensate the couple for the money they paid to hire acoustic experts, for their temporary loss of amenity and the time and trouble spent pursuing the complaint.

Sharon Cosgrove, the council's strategic director for the physical environment, said: "The council accepts that it has 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 Ombuds- man.

"The council provides many successful sports facilities for the people of Oxford every year and there are no proposals for any similar skate sites in residential areas."

Plans for a street sport facility on the Aristotle Lane site did not go ahead after the skatepark closed, because of noise concerns.