SOME of the district's youth centres might close for good as cuts bite, a senior councillor has warned.

Bradford Council hopes to hand over the running of seven centres to voluntary or community groups to save cash, while still running services from them.

But Councillor Ralph Berry, executive member for children's services, said he did not think they would all be saved in this way.

He said: "We can't pretend they will all be saved, but we have got to do our level best and that's what we are trying to do.

"The more money we can save by being efficient with our buildings, the more secure the jobs are."

Cllr Berry said that by cutting back on the costs of running centres, the Council could safeguard more youth services and youth workers' jobs.

He said: "The youth service is not just buildings."

And he said building transfers had been successful in the past, citing the Parkside Centre in West Bowling, which was taken on by community organisation Bradford Trident some years ago.

Bradford Council needs to slash £70,000 in running costs from its youth service budget.

The authority has now identified seven buildings which could be taken over by community groups.

The centres listed are Denholme Youth Cafe, the Scholemoor Centre, Buttershaw Youth Centre, Silsden Youth Centre, Haworth Youth Centre, the Eco Pod in Thackley and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Centre in Undercliffe.

A report to the Council's Executive says 18 organisations have so far expressed an interest in running one or more of the centres.

It also recommends that the Council disposes of Highcroft Youth Centre in Wrose, with the building possibly being used as a nursery instead.

The report says some of the centres have significant maintenance backlogs, including £257,000 of work needed to Buttershaw Youth Centre, £222,000 at Highcroft Youth Centre, £33,000 at the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Centre, £509,000 at Haworth Youth Centre and £54,000 at Silsden Youth Centre.

Councillor Debbie Davies, Conservative spokesman for children's services, welcomed the review but she said she did not want to see centres closed for good in rural areas where there was less for young people to do, if no-one came forward to run them.

In particular, she raised concerns about Denholme Youth Cafe, which runs out of a cabin near Foster Park. More than 100 young people use the centre, which has no maintenance backlog.

Cllr Davies said: "I'm a bit concerned that Denholme is on the list. I think it only costs about £2,000 a year to run it, it's really cheap."

The Council's executive will discuss the matter on Tuesday, March 10.