Tony Carter was flabbergasted when health and safety chiefs told him his four-year-old daughter Marnie's swings had to be removed because they were in a communal garden.
Canterbury City Council officers said the three swings posed a danger to other children on an estate in the Kent town.
The 42-year-old argued that the swings were behind a fence and that he had permission, but his protest was in vain.
Mr Carter said: "The flat is ground floor on a main road but there is a fence about three-and-a-half feet tall around it.
"We got permission two years ago that we could have the swings up but we received a call from the council saying we have to take them down.
"They say if kids jump over the fence and go on them and hurt themselves the council will be responsible.
"Unless we can supervise the swings the whole time, we have to remove them. It's ridiculous".
He even tried to compromise, suggesting that he could unclip the swings when Marnie wasn't playing with them, but according to the council, that will undermine its insurance.
He said: "They won't compromise either – I asked if I could just unhook the swings each night but they said the whole frame has to come down."
Tony says his daughter has been left in floods of tears by the decision – because she used to love playing on the swings with her pals.
He added: "Her and her little mates love going on those swings and now they can't.
"Marnie was really upset, she doesn't understand why they need to be taken down.
"I just told her it's because it's muddy and cold outside."
Tony has taken a swipe at the overly-cautious council – who even made him remove a shallow paddling pool from outside the flat, where Marnie lives with her mum.
He said: "We had a paddling pool out there once too and we were told we couldn't have that out there either unless it was supervised the whole time."
An East Kent Housing spokesman said the problem is the fact the swings are in an area of communal garden.
They added: "We have therefore advised the tenant that she can have them up provided her children are using them on a supervised basis, and that she must remove them when they are not in use.
"This is because the council's insurance would not cover any accidents if the swings were to be used by others."
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