Children are receiving thousands of pounds in ‘baffling’ compensation after sustaining injuries in school playgrounds – including being hit by tennis balls, tripping over tree roots and burning their lips on toasted marshmallows.

Figures from local councils reveal £3.75 million was paid out in the past two years after 6,000 cases in which schools were sued by parents over what campaigners call ‘ordinary childhood accidents’.

In one case, a pupil received £4,000 from Newcastle City Council after burning their lip on a hot marshmallow, while another child won £20,000 from West Northamptonshire Council when they tripped while running towards a bouncy castle.

Similar five-figure sums were paid to children who injured themselves in playground falls and PE lessons, tripped on astroturf or were clobbered by hockey sticks. One even won compensation after being ‘pushed off a slide’.

Critics said the figures, which were released following a Freedom of Information request by The Mail on Sunday, pointed to a ‘growing scandal’ of compensation claims in schools for common childhood injuries.

And they said it was, in effect, ‘ruining childhood’ by making schools more risk-averse.

Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Serious negligence deserves compensation, but some of these pay-outs will leave taxpayers baffled.

‘Councils must prevent genuine safety failures without encouraging a compensation culture around ordinary accidents.’

Christopher McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education argued that compensation culture was ‘ruining childhood by causing bans on playground games’ (stock image)

Christopher McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said that while some claims were legitimate, others were being encouraged by ‘greedy’ no-win, no-fee lawyers.

‘The compensation culture in schools has become a runaway train,’ he said. ‘These legal vultures advertise on the internet to pull in grievance-seeking parents. Schools and local authorities choose to settle out of court in order to avoid legal costs.

‘This is ruining childhood by causing bans on playground games, climbing trees and apparatus or out-of-school trips.’

Some of the claims involved pay-outs for serious injuries or psychological scars. One of the biggest was made by Wirral Council for £67,000 to a child who suffered eye injuries from a door handle.

Islington Council paid almost £22,000 to a student who lost part of their finger, while Essex Council paid £40,000 to a student who had been abused by a teacher.

Haringey Council also paid £4,460 to a student who fell out of their wheelchair while being carried out of a mobility bus.

Guy Forster, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, said schools had a legal duty to make sure children did not come to avoidable harm.

‘Compensation can only be claimed when there has been negligence by the school or the authority that runs it, not for simple accidents or mishaps which could never be foreseen,’ he said.

A Local Government Association spokesman said: ‘Cases are assessed by individual councils, who will work with headteachers to thoroughly assess each individual case and react accordingly.’