Skateboarders have hit out after a parish council ordered a famed skate bowl to be filled in following an arson attack.

North Hinksey Parish Council said it could not get insurance for Botley Bowl – where skaters could perform stunts – and so had to fill it in.

Thieves rammed a stolen van through the gates of a playing field 12 months ago, drove it into the bowl and then set it on fire.

The guitar-shaped bowl was designed by two Oxford skating champions and was regarded as one of Britain’s top skate parks, attracting users from Canada and the United States.

Former English Skateboard Association half-pipe champion Sean Goff, who co-designed the bowl in the Louie Memorial playing fields with Mon Barbour, said: “It is distressing, it was a good place and people travelled from all over the country and all over the world to ride it.”

Mr Goff, 46, from Kidlington, added: “Obviously if it’s damaged beyond repair it had to go but there’s nothing for the youth in Oxford. I have to travel about 60 to 100 miles to find somewhere decent to skate.”

Former world amateur rollerskating champion Mr Barbour said: “If these people had driven into the other field and into a play area, do you think the parish council would have bulldozed it and filled it in or do you think they would have replaced it?

“Why have they got rid of a facility that had been used extremely well and could still be used by BMXers and mountain bikers?

“This sends the message out that it’s okay to vandalise stuff and we won’t do anything about it.”

The blaze damaged the concrete and left a cocktail of toxic materials in the bowl, saddling the council with a £1,400 clean-up bill. A report found it would cost £20,000 to repair.

The bowl cost the council £6,500 to build in 1991.

Steve Elliott, chairman of the parish council’s recreation and amenities committee, said: “The insurance company had condemned the bowl and refused to insure it.

“If someone had used it and had an accident, the parish council would have been liable for any damages and that could have run into tens of thousands of pounds.”

A consultation on its future will begin in October, he said, and could include skate facilities.

However, a Botley resident who helped set up the skate bowl said a report she commissioned found it could be temporarily repaired for £2,000.

Chris Tristram, an engineer who oversaw the original skate bowl project, prepared the report for Ag Mackeith, who sent it to the parish council.

Council clerk Alan Stone said: “The insurers took it into account when arriving at their decision.”

Ms Mackeith said: “I very much hope that what they build there for skateboard provision will be something that’s useful and kids will enjoy it.”