An Oxford skate park which was closed because noise levels were too high could be turned into a sports area.

Councillors Stephen Brown and Jean Fooks at the skate park

Oxford City Council's parks department is to investigate alternative uses for the Aristotle Lane skate park, which shut in May, just one month after it was completed.

A report is expected to be presented at the council's north area committee meeting on Thursday, February 6, in Summertown Church Hall, at 6pm.

It is likely to include plans to convert the park's concrete base so it could be used for games such as basketball.

Residents will be asked for their views before the committee makes a decision, but several have already raised concerns about keeping a concreted area, claiming it would continue to attract skateboarders.

Ideas they have suggested for the site include an adventure playground or a garden.

The £32,000 skate park closed after tests commissioned by a local resident revealed the noise levels were in breach of safety laws.

The city council's head of parks, Andrew Parsons, said: "We need to create something valuable and worthwhile out of this sorry saga.

"We're working with experts and although it's very early days, our most likely suggestion will be leaving the surface and building on that."

Some residents want the concrete removed. They claim it is causing drainage problems, leaving the ground flooded and soggy.

Local councillor Jean Fooks said: "The residents really don't want any hard surface because they're afraid it will still be used by skateboarders and the noise problem will come back.

"We must listen to what people want. We've already made one mistake and we don't want to make another."

John Gould, who lives nearby, said: "The drainage problem needs investigating by experts before anything happens. Then if they could find something noise-free they could use it for, that would be splendid.

"I'm not sure a basketball court is the answer. If the area is left as concrete it will encourage skateboarders to bring their own ramps and continue to use it."

Chris Dale, 49, of Plater Drive, has opposed the skate park since it was first suggested. He said: "People wanted the land to be drained and used for football from the beginning. This skatepark was a waste of £32,000 and heads should roll for its development. Someone must be to blame for it.

"The council now need to investigate the drainage, then give people what they want. No one was bothered by football, they accept it as a natural part of life. If that site is left concrete it will turn into an ad-hoc skating area."

The skate park, funded by developers and built by the council, opened at Aristotle Lane Recreation Ground despite opposition from 90 per cent of people living within 50 metres.

It was closed temporarily a month later after residents complained they were being kept awake at night by the sound of skateboarders using the ramps.

The council's environmental health department revealed that its noise pollution team had not been consulted before the park was built.

Mr Parsons said redevelopment work was likely to begin in the spring. Details of how it will be funded are not yet available.

The council will carry out research at skate parks in Bristol to build a skate bowl in Frys Hill, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, next year. It has already spent £50,000 this year on building a skate park at Sunnymead Recreation Ground, Cutteslowe.