Roundhay Park, Leeds: Visitors to popular Yorkshire park urged to not have barbecues during hot weather

Senior councillor Mohammed Rafique said there were often complaints of groups cooking food and leaving litter behind during spells of hot weather at the park. Lighting flames at any park in Leeds is banned, with grassland fires elsewhere in the country having been linked to barbecues in summers gone by.

Councillor Rafique, who is Leeds’ executive member for environment, raised the issue at a community committee meeting in Roundhay on Monday (Jun 12). He said that there’d been reports of barbecues happening at the park earlier this year, even before this week’s heatwave.

Speaking after the meeting, he said a “minority” of visitors were responsible for the trouble, with gas canisters frequently found abandoned on park grounds.

Coun Rafique said: “We’re lucky to have a park of this stature in Leeds. It’s one of the biggest in the country and we’d always encourage people to use our parks and enjoy themselves in the sunshine. But we ask people to behave responsibly, as the majority of park users do, and stay safe in the heat.

“We don’t allow barbecues or the lighting of naked flames at any of our parks in Leeds, as they can cause extensive damage to the grassland, the trees and surrounding habitats.”