The children in the area which did this knew the purpose of the exercise, had no interest in retrieving ancient toys that up to this were languishing in sheds and furthermore children of an age that would dash out into traffic were never allowed out anyway without their parents. The end result was a much safer estate.
Well I'm comforted to hear that every child who lives in and visits that estate is old and wise enough to know that toys placed on a road were not for playing with. Children, no matter what age they are, naturally want to play with toys.