FEARS over the Meadows being turned into a "swamp" due to over-use today sparked calls for tighter controls on events being staged in the popular parkland.

A large section of the park was left waterlogged and badly damaged following last month's MoonWalk, and concerns have been raised that the situation will worsen during the Edinburgh Festival.

Construction vehicles used during the erection of giant marquees have been blamed for cutting up the grass. Recent bouts of heavy rainfall have also left the city beauty spot in a "fragile" condition.

Seven major events have been granted permission to be held in the Meadows this year, including the Great Edinburgh Run, Lady Boys of Bangkok and the Taste of Edinburgh.

Friends of the Meadows, which was set up to help preserve the area, claimed the number of "major and prolonged" events is taking its toll on the park. The group questioned whether events should be moved away from the Meadows, while demanding a ban on large vehicles.

Campaigners say a section to the east of Middle Meadow Walk is still recovering from the Edinburgh MoonWalk – a charity walk through the Capital which drew 10,000 people and started and finished in the park.

They argue that the forthcoming Lady Boys of Bangkok shows, which are held annually in a marquee during the Edinburgh Festival, will lead to the area being turned into a "swamp".

Group chairman Peng Lee Yap said: "The MoonWalk damaged the site really badly. Normally the council comes into restore the site after events, but because it was raining so much, it was felt it would cause even more damage to do that after the MoonWalk.

"The damage is so extensive in that area that the community is being denied access to a community resource."

But he added: "I don't think there would be real support for banning these events, so what we need to do is lay down some ground rules and ban vehicles of a certain weight."

Committee member Hilary McDowell, from Newington, called for a one-year ban on major events in the Meadows to give the land time to recover.

She also believes it is unfair that Edinburgh residents are being "excluded" from certain parts of the parkland due to these major events. She said: "The Meadows is for the use of everybody and to fence off chunks of what is a public area for private gain is not right.

"The festival construction will go up at the beginning of August and will continue into September. The area then takes two months to recover and it's unusable for a large part of that time."

A city council spokeswoman said: "When an event is held on the Meadows, the organisers pay a bond to the council which covers any repairs required to restore the ground to its original state.

"It has not been possible to carry out these repairs recently as works after heavy rainfall can lead to further damage.

"We expect to be able to make repairs in the near future which will restore the ground to its original state and, in the meantime, will work with event organisers to ensure minimum damage."

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Mark McInnes, councillor for Meadows/Morningside, said: "I don't know about a complete ban because I think it's important that community events still have a venue to use. But it's also very important that there's a constant dialogue with the local residents and people putting on very large community events need to be sympathetic to the Meadows and those living nearby."