BUREAUCRATS who banned a village green see-saw were shamed by an 85-year-old Cinderford man, Harry Warrick, this week.

He has offered to pay up to £1,000 from his savings so it can be modified or rebuilt to comply with new regulations.

Harry, who has eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren, made his offer in a letter to the Review after reading about the "unsuitable" see-saw in our Sally Sunshine column.

It was built in wood and steel 40 years ago by the village blacksmith at Bledington, in Gloucestershire, and has never been the cause of an injury.

But it has had to be dismantled because its ends bump the ground instead of leaving the inch-high gap required by latest standards.

Enraged, Harry wrote to the Review that he would be happy to withdraw savings he normally uses to augment his "miserable" government pension.

"This stupid ruling was presumably produced by people who call themselves Christians," he said. "I will willingly pay for the happiness of children whom I shall possibly never know."

Graham Harris, chairperson of the council, said he had received many letters and phone calls ridiculing the bureaucratic nature of the ruling.

But Harry Warrick's offer to give cash was the only one received after the see-saw story was headlined in national papers.

"I am very grateful," said Mr Harris. He added. "Harry is obviously one of the old school. My own view is that we would be delighted to accept a modest contribution from such a man of principle.

"We are hoping to be able to avoid insurance risks by modifying the see-saw, which was used by a lot of mums and dads as well as children. Anything we do will be costly, and we've already spent heavily on millennium projects."

Mr Harris has sent a photo of the see-saw to Harry, and has asked the Review to pass on his letter so it can be preserved in the parish archives.

Harry Warrick is disabled by arthritis. In world war two he was a Russian interpreter for the Allied forces surging through Europe and worked with MI6, the secret intelligence agency. After ten years in the Army, he worked as an interpreter with an international computing group until his retirement at the age of 64.

He and his wife, who died four years ago, came to the Forest in 1983.

"It would make me so happy to actually see that see-saw in action again, if someone would give me a lift over there," he said.