Broomsticks banned from school halloween party

Children have been banned from bringing broomsticks to a Halloween party because of health and safety fears.

Langham Pre-school near Colchester, Essex, announced it was barring brooms from its annual Pumpkin Party on Sunday after a child was hurt last year.

The fancy-dress party has been running at the village’s community centre for more than six years and is the nursery’s main fundraiser, attracting about 100 children and their families.



But this year committee members decided to officially ban play broomsticks and devil forks for health and safety reasons.

John Smith, committee chairman and a primary school headteacher, said: “It was not a whim, it was a considered decision. Last year, a child brought a full-size broomstick and another child got hurt."

A spokesman for the Pre-school Learning Alliance added: “Banning broomsticks at a Halloween party, however well-meaning, is taking health and safety a little to the extreme.”