Families living in a quiet cul-de-sac say police have threatened to arrest them if they allow their children to play football outside their homes.

Youngsters aged between seven and 14 have been donning their soccer strips and playing on a dirt track yards from their front doors.

But now they are facing the boot after police warned they were breaking the law.

Rob and Karen Lewis are one of three sets of parents in Nursery Road, Great Horton, with young children who enjoy a kick-about.

But Mr Lewis said pensioners living on one side of the cul-de-sac had begun to complain about the games and the police then came to see them at the end of last week.

Mr Lewis, 35, a service manager, who has four children aged seven to 14, said: "The police came and confronted all three families and said our children couldn't play football on the path or road because it was a public highway and it was breaking the law. The police constable who came out said the children could be cautioned and have a criminal record and the parents could get arrested.

"I am not going to stop my kids from going out to play football. The police said we should take them to a field half a mile away, but people take drugs there.

"We are trying to be sensible. We told the kids to go and play on the dirt track so that they were out of the way.

"There has been the odd occasion when the ball has gone into a garden but the children have been told to go through the gate, knock on the door and ask for it back. But on one occasion an elderly gentleman grabbed the ball and took it inside. The police had to get it back.

"The kids are devastated. It is coming up to the big tournament and they are football mad. They get their kits on and pretend to be one of the players. Now they are worried someone will call the police."

Rob and Karen, 40, have four children Karl, 14, Luke, 11, Lucy, nine, and seven-year-old Melissa.

Police said they acted after receiving a call from a resident on Nursery Road regarding children causing a nuisance outside a house.

A spokesman said the force was duty-bound to follow up any complaints and an officer attended and spoke with the families of those involved and asked that their children not play in the road in front of the house.

The spokesman said the families were informed of potential dangers of children playing in the road, but were not told their children could be arrested.

The officer also told the resident who confiscated the ball not to do so again.

The spokesman said: "Ultimately, children who are out playing in the road put themselves at greater risk of being involved in accidents as they will not generally be paying due care and attention to any traffic in the area.

"There is also the consideration that other people living in the area may be affected by the noise made by children playing in the road."

e-mail: steve.wright @bradford.newsquest.co.uk