The 'Play Space' survey of 800 children aged four to 16 found that a quarter were too scared of being bullied by older children to play outside.
The second most common reason given was traffic (17 per cent of the children), followed by parents' fear of strangers, which was a problem for 15 per cent. Dirty play areas also put children off.
Ian Sparks, chief executive of the Children's Society, said, 'Children are being crowded out of their neighbourhoods - by cars, by bullying and by parents' fears about strangers. They are not so much couch potatoes as couch prisoners, and the impact on their health and well-being could be disastrous.'
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