CALLS are being made for assurances over the future of Worcestershire's country parks - with councillors calling for clarity over their future.

Worcestershire County Council is being warned to make it clear if any of its popular beauty spots will be handed to third-party operators.

It follows the current transfer of Kingsford Forest Park which is being handed to the National Trust to save £30,000-a-year in running costs.

At the time the deal was made public, last November, some councillors complained about there being no debates about it beforehan at County Hall.

Councillor Richard Udall, the chairman of County Hall's Labour group, used a full council meeting to ask the Conservative leadership to be clear.

He said: "We've seen how a countryside park is being disposed of, how many other country parks are being discussed about for disposal and when are we going to hear about it?"

Councillor Lucy Hodgson, the cabinet member for localism and communities, said: "We are in the process of talking to the National Trust about the transfer of Kingsford Park and we are in discussions with Wyre Forest (the district council) about taking on Hartlebury Common.

"If we get any other sites come forward we will consider them on an individual basis."

A new report on the situation states that the council's green spaces team "continues to work towards self-financing", saying it intends to carry on finding ways of "generating income from its countryside sites".

That could include charging for services, securing external funding rather than relying on county taxpayers, and cutting costs.

Under the deal for Kingsford Forest Park, the trust cannot levy any parking charges on visitors for the first three years as a protection.

The organisation, which is the UK leader for open spaces, will also have to keep the land 'free to roam' and maintain the landscape.

The park, based in a hamlet near Kidderminster, features vast open heathland, miles of sandy tracks, pine forests, picnic benches and broadleaved woods and is popular with people across the county.

The council owns six countryside parks or nature reserves, including Worcester Woods, and 11 different picnic sites.