A SOUTH Belfast councillor has hit out following a "mindless" arson attack at a children's playground.

The SDLP's Gary McKeown expressed disappointment after a blaze at the Stewart Street play park in the Market area on Wednesday night which caused extensive damage to equipment and closed the park to children and parents. 

A pallet was placed against a climbing frame at the park before being set alight.  Council staff were at the scene this morning to clear the wreckage and assess the damage. 

Cllr McKeown said the park may be out of use "for some time" as the Council sources replacement equipment. 

"Council staff are in cleaning it up to see if they can get the park reopened, but I understand there is quite a long procurement time for replacing equipment," he stated.

"They will be assessing today and seeing what the scale of the damage is. I don't know what it will cost, but that will obviously be footed by the ratepayer.

"The bigger issue is that somebody would go in and do that to a play park which is used by children and families, in an area close to the city centre and without ready access to another park. It just seems mindless."

He added: "There will always be money to fix things, it's the upset it will cause to the children who play in the park and get a bit of exercise in it which is the issue."

A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Stewart Street playground remains temporarily closed as a result of a fire, which has damaged some of the play equipment and wet pour surface. We continue to work alongside our contractor to repair the equipment and we hope to re-open the playground as soon as possible. In the meantime we urge parents and children to respect the closure which is aimed at ensuring the health and safety of users.”

The South Belfast News has contacted the PSNI and is awaiting a response.