Like most children, there's nothing Wojciech and Hana Dynowski enjoy more than a go on their garden trampoline.

Eastern Daily Press: Wojciech Dynowski, seven, plays happily on his trampoline which may have to go as the family have been told their walled garden is communal, and to clear it of toys, the trampoline and trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYWojciech Dynowski, seven, plays happily on his trampoline which may have to go as the family have been told their walled garden is communal, and to clear it of toys, the trampoline and trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2017)

But the sibling's bouncing days could be numbered after a council ordered that the play equipment be taken away.

The pair were reduced to tears when Norwich City Council declared that the trampoline was among of list of items that must be removed from a block of flats in Southwell Road, Lakenham, in a letter on May 12.

The list included a coffee mug used as an ash tray, garden gnomes, and children's toys.

One resident, Francene Mayes, who was runner up in the city council Good Neighbour awards last year, has also been told to remove a wooden shed in her garden.

Eastern Daily Press: The garden area at the flats in Southwell Road, with the area near the road being communal, and the walled in gardens next to the building the residents have understood to be private, but now have been notified as also being communal and to be cleared of toys, such as the children's trampoline, and trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYThe garden area at the flats in Southwell Road, with the area near the road being communal, and the walled in gardens next to the building the residents have understood to be private, but now have been notified as also being communal and to be cleared of toys, such as the children's trampoline, and trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2017)

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The residents have been told their gardens are now 'communal areas', and cannot have trip hazards.

Iwona Dynowski, 36, said her children Wojciech, eight and Hana, five, were crying when she told them the trampoline had to go.

Eastern Daily Press: Some of the character figures in the gardens around the flats in Southwell Road, which may have to be removed as the council are concerned about trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYSome of the character figures in the gardens around the flats in Southwell Road, which may have to be removed as the council are concerned about trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2017)

'Before we moved here we asked if this was a private garden and were told it was a garden for our use only,' said Mrs Dynovska. 'The trampoline has been here since we moved in over two years ago.'

Neighbour John Chewter, 65, said: 'Every time there has been an inspection before there has been nothing wrong. Their logic now is anybody could come from anywhere in the city, walk into their garden through a latched gate, use their trampoline, break their leg and sue the council.

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Eastern Daily Press: Some of the character figures in the gardens around the flats in Southwell Road, which may have to be removed as the council are concerned about trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYSome of the character figures in the gardens around the flats in Southwell Road, which may have to be removed as the council are concerned about trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2017)

Ms Mayes, said the council officer was 'disrupting an entire block of people with this dictatorship. We are a community here.'

She has spent 17 years beautifying the outdoor space, only to be told to tear out her work.

'This was a wilderness and the front was just bricks and rubble,' she said. 'I'm now being told I am out of order. If they are now saying it is a communal garden, why have they not been maintaining it for the last 17 years?'

A council spokesperson said they are due to meet residents this week to discuss their concerns.

Eastern Daily Press: Some of the character figures in the gardens around the flats in Southwell Road, which may have to be removed as the council are concerned about trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEYSome of the character figures in the gardens around the flats in Southwell Road, which may have to be removed as the council are concerned about trip hazards. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2017)

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'We are now working with residents to resolve any safety concerns and put appropriate permissions in place for permitted items, while ensuring all residents have equal access to shared space,' they said.

History of health and safety

In 2014, Norwich City Council updated its rules after it faced accusations of heavy-handedness when tenants were ordered to remove items from communal areas in flats.

Among them was Kerry Annison, whose flowers have won Norwich In Bloom awards. She was told the pots around her Devonshire Street home were a fire hazard, before a council change of heart.

And Margaret Jowsey, of Sleaford Green, was ordered to remove a washing line in a communal area which was also deemed to be a fire hazard.

In the wake of those incidents, and a blaze which broke out in Markham Tower in Mile Cross five years ago, the council reviewed what was allowed in communal areas at the council's flats.

Plant pots were banned in 'high risk' areas, such as tower blocks.

Now, items in the Southwell Road block of flats which have been deemed a fire hazard include a metal sign displayed above a hallway cabinet.