A KIDS play centre claims to have suffered a 30 per cent drop in trade after double yellow lines were put in nearby.

Fun For Kids — Kendal’s only dedicated soft play centre – says it has been affected by the new lines on Parkside Business Park.

The site owners said they were put in for safety reasons and because delivery vehicles had problems turning because of parked cars.

Parents have started a ‘Save Fun For Kids’ Facebook campaign with more than 500 supporters to help the business win more spaces.

The centre, also known as the Fun Factory, only has a small number of official parking places outside its unit.

Customers also park on the privately-owned road, but some of these places are now occupied by cars unable to park on the trading estate due to the new lines, said Fun For Kids owner Andy Kaye.

Mr Kaye, 46, said: “There isn’t another business like ours in Kendal and if I was in this job for money, I would have packed in a long time ago. I’m here to provide a service and I’m in it for the long haul. I need to make my bread and butter around the half terms because they are my lifeline.”

Mr Kaye is now wants an unused strip of council-owned land at the rear of the business turned into parking, which could also be used by the neighbouring Kirkbie Kendal School astro turf.

It follows instances of night-time users of the astro turf having their vehicles locked in on the estate or occupying parking spots from the Kendal Dojo, said Mr Kaye.

The idea has the backing of local police community support officer Jenna Egglestone, who said: “From my point of view it would be a lot safer for the children. We do get residents complaining and it would be better if this overspill area was re-opened.”

Parent Andrew Martin, 33, from Kendal, added: “I have to rush from work and park on Garden Road to drop my son off for football and residents aren’t always happy with people parking there, so this would be ideal.”

And parent Lyndsey Goodyear, said: “There is nowhere else to park and when the weather is foul the last thing parents want to do is walk half-a-mile in the rain with twining kids. If Fun For Kids closes there will be no indoor soft play area for children in Kendal town itself, but more importantly a long running popular family business will be lost.”

A spokesman for Ashford Associates Properties, said: “The plan, upon construction of the access road, was to always install double yellow lines as it was deemed unsafe for staff or customers’ cars to be parked alongside a road that is being serviced regularly by heavy articulated vehicles. ”