POLICE chiefs have been slammed after investigating a schoolboy for kicking a football around his garden.

Following a noise complaint from a neighbour, officers visited the boy’s house where they held a meeting between the youngster and the resident.

The ‘instant restorative justice’ session aimed to get the boy to understand ‘the impact the behaviour was having on local residents’.

And it came up with a solution — the donation of council cash for a net to stop the noise from the ball hitting the garden fence.

But critics said this was an ‘absurd waste of taxpayers’ money’ and branded it ‘crazy’ that children ‘cannot play in their own backgardens without the authorities getting involved’.

Lancashire Police said the action had “resolved a long-standing community issue”.

The mother of the boy, who lives in Hollin Street, Blackburn, declined to comment.

She has yet to receive the net from the police after Blackburn with Darwen Council donated £26 for it through its Neighbourhood Board budget.

The woman who complained about the noise, a 76-year-old who did not want to be named, said she did not believe the measure would work.

She said: “I don’t know how this will fix it. I can’t see it myself. It’s not nice with the noise and my argument is there is a park just across the road.

“This should have been sorted a long time ago.”

Mum-of-three Fern Dewsnap, 28, who lives nearby on Hollin Street, said: “If they have a garden they should be allowed to use it.

“I am used to my lads running around, and it’s not disturbing. It does seem a bit bizarre.”

But another Hollin Street resident, who did not want to be named, said: “You have to do something. It can be a nightmare around here. And there’s a park down the road.”

Ewood Labour councillor Maureen Bateson, who applied for council funding for the net on behalf of the police, said: “I couldn’t believe it had got this far.

“I just think it’s crazy that children can’t play in their own garden. Kids today have lost a lot of play spaces. You can’t say to a 10-year-old kid he can’t play in his garden.

“I presented the case that the police told me to and I was very clear that we were not setting a precedent. I would be really disappointed if this became the norm. I only did it because it had been taken this far by the police.

“I don’t know how it happened but I’m amazed.”

Community police officers held a ‘restorative justice panel’, which is designed to show an offender the effects of their crime on the community.

Matthew Elliott, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “This is an absurd waste of time and taxpayers’ money. A 10-year-old boy has a right to kick a football in his back garden, and his neighbours have a right to some peace and quiet.

“This could have been settled in a civilized way without a full reconciliation hearing. Ultimately this inflated production has ended up costing taxpayers far more than it should, and the council and the police must find swifter, more cost effective ways to settle similar disputes in future.”

Sgt Graham Marshall said: “We arranged an instant restorative justice meeting in order to resolve a long-standing community issue whereby all parties involved came together to discuss the impact the behaviour was having on local residents, in particular one elderly lady.”

Blackburn with Darwen’s five Neighbourhood Boards are given taxpayers’ cash to spend on community projects.

Tory councillor Derek Hardman, who was at the meeting last week when the funding was agreed for the net, said: “My feeling is this is a waste of resources. Where does it stop? Are we going to get people queuing up asking for things for their gardens so they don’t disturb their neighbours? It is ludicrous.”

But the board chairman Adrian Hoole said: “Smaller neighbourhood issues such as this don't normally get discussed at the board and this issue was not on the agenda.

"On this occasion though the board was happy to fund this proposal to quickly resolve a dispute between neighbours."