A MASSIVE 90 per cent of Swindon residents agree that it would be bonkers to ban school pupils from playing conkers.

Readers responding to an Advertiser poll said the traditional game should be allowed to continue in playgrounds.

Although the game is banned at many Swindon schools because of safety fears, the conkers contest is one of the highlights of the year at Ruskin Junior School.

The controversy comes just a month after council chiefs in South Shields sparked outrage by chopping branches off a horse chestnut tree after fears children would be injured climbing for conkers.