FIVE thousand people enjoyed a free play day held at Witney’s Burwell Meadow to celebrate it being made a Queen Elizabeth II Field.

Witney Town Council hosted the activity day last Friday to celebrate the dedication as a Field in Trust, giving it permanent protection as a recreation area, to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics last year.

The meadow is the first park in Oxfordshire to be granted the status.

The day included face painting, a water slide, go-karts, street hockey, kite-flying. Many families enjoyed picnics.

Amy Shayler, 35, of Deer Park, Witney, took her 19-month-old daughter Kara along.

She said: “Kara loves the music and she really loved the day. If it happens again I would definitely go.”

Sally Billington, from Oxford, took her three children to the event, and her six-year-old daughter Amy enjoyed several rides on the go-karts.

She said: “It was wonderful that the whole thing was free. Amy loved going on the go-karts, I think she must have been on them about three or four times.”

Witney town councillor Chrissie Curry, who campaigned for the recognition, said: “I pushed and pushed to get this and we eventually got the designation.

“We’re the first place in Oxfordshire to get it and we’re proud of that.”