Melting snow left Easter fairground rides stuck in the mud and a scene of devastation at award-winning Lister Park in Bradford.

Heavy vehicles and rides at the annual fair, which ran over the weekend, sunk into the soggy ground as the unseasonal snow and heavy rains brought mud to the historic Manningham park.

As the lorries tried to leave they left large sections of the grass churned up. Winches were needed to help the heaviest rides up and out. One lorry even remained stuck yesterday.

The mess has left Friends of Lister Park co-chairman Joy Leach dismayed at the clean-up needed.

But the park's managers at Bradford Council have assured the Telegraph & Argus that the damage is "superficial" and can easily be sorted out.

Mrs Leach said: "It's very sad to see people's work churned up.

"We are aware as the Friends of Lister Park that a lot of time and effort goes into maintaining this park.

"The spring flowers this time of year are beautiful and that's what brings a lot of people into the park, so it's really sad that people have then got to see this."

She said it was the early Easter and the bad weather that had contributed to the mire.

Barrie Tinker, the Council's principal parks and landscape manager, said: "The fairground people are working with us to restore the grass which got churned up when the vehicles left the site.

"The problem was caused by heavy snow over the weekend which made the ground very wet and difficult to move vehicles about on. A lot of the mess is superficial.

"We have cleaned up the mud from the footpaths and are now sorting out the grass as quickly as possible so that other people can enjoy using it."

Sandra Wright, of W Marshalls Amusements which ran the fair, said: "I don't think we've ever had such awful weather in all the years we've been going to Lister Park.

"We do try to safeguard the ground as much as we can and use plywood boards to go in and out.

"But this time what with the snow and then the heavy rain on Wednesday some of the large lorries had sunk into the ground and we had to use winches to get the heavy equipment out.

"It probably looks worse than it is - it's only superficial really.

"We have had people levelling the ground off and the Council has told us that you will not know we've even been there in four to six weeks."

The park has undergone a £4 million restoration in recent years, being transformed from an under-used facility to a prize-winning community park.

In August 2006 the park was named the best in Britain.