Youngsters were so fed up with the broken floodlights at a skate park that they launched a petition.

Now Swale council has pledged to fix the lights so the skaters can use the equipment in the evenings.

People who want to use the ramps at Beachfields in Sheerness claim the lights have been out of action since last summer and they have not been able to use the park during the week in the winter.

Kyle Chan, 17, of Royal Road, Sheerness, started a petition to get the problem sorted – he collected almost 20 signatures in one train journey.

He says that by the time he and his friends get home from college, it is too dark to use the park. According to Kyle, about 100 people use the park, aged from about nine to 30 and other people who use the area are also missing out.

He said plenty of parents use the park with their children and it would be better for everyone if the lights were put back on.

Speaking before the council’s announcement, Kyle said: “It needs to be sorted. We feel like we have been let down.

“It feels like people that are actually doing something with their lives are being let down.

“We are not sitting at home doing nothing all day.

“There’s nowhere to skate or play football or BMX.”

According to Kyle, a student at Canterbury College, there are often youths hanging around the area and regular uses of the park feel that if the lights were mended it would discourage them.

He said: “There is a camera but it can’t be seen in the dark. If the lights were on people wouldn’t hang around.”

After the Times Guardian contacted Swale council, a spokesman said the lights will be repaired soon.

Kyle was delighted when he found out he and his friends will soon be able to use the skate park again.

He said: “That’s absolutely amazing – it’s such good news. I’m really, really happy.”