THE wildest dreams of skateboarders in Addingham are about to come true - but only if they can behave themselves over the next few weeks.

Since the village skate park was opened last year, youngsters have complained about a lack of equipment on which to test their skills on.

Now they are poised to receive grants totalling around £14,000 to buy the items they need - provided they do not trouble the rest of the village.

In recent weeks their skating antics around Addingham and reported abuse of those who take them to task has been driving residents to complain to the Parish Council.

At a recent meeting, Parish Councillor Alan Jerome announced that money for the equipment was available on condition the skateboarders agree to stay away from the rest of the village.

He said the cash £10,000 from the Addingham Millennium Charity and the rest from other funds, including an anonymous donor, was available to buy the equipment.

There had been fears in the village that Parish Council funds would be used to pay for the equipment but chairman Gordon Campbell emphatically denied this.

He said: "It has never been the council's thought at all to spend an amount like £14,000 on the skate park."

A delegation of young skateboarders attended the meeting when Coun Jerome made the announcement.

He said: "If the village provides the equipment, the skateboarders will have to give an undertaking and commitment to use it rather than use the rest of the village."

Coun Jerome said there had been complaints that youngsters have been seen skating on the Memorial Hall roof, the Memorial Hall steps, the bowling green, the War Memorial, the former First School building and other inappropriate places.

Skateboarder Oliver Strudwick, 16, told the meeting that they had been in touch with a fund which promised a grant of £500 towards equipment and they had raised some money themselves.

Coun Campbell said: "If we are going to stick our necks on the block and arrange some sort of funding, you are going to have to make some sort of commitment." Coun Jerome said: "Are you willing to sign a piece of paper promising not to skateboard elsewhere in the village?"

All the youngsters agreed that to sign any undertaking that they would not skate in other parts of the village if equipment was provided.

Coun Jerome said that the intention of providing the money was to remove the annoyance the skateboarders had been causing and to create something youngsters would enjoy.

As well as announcing the grant, Coun Jerome also urged the carrot and stick approach by suggesting that parish councillors should go ahead with the plan of finding out whether an anti-skateboarding by-law could be created in other areas of the village.

After complaints from the youngsters that the skateboarding area was being regularly covered with mud, thereby ruining skateboards, parish councillors agreed to arrange for a stone kerb to be laid around it.

Parish councillors told the youngsters that they could throw away the chance of getting the money if their misbehaviour continued while the equipment was being arranged.

Councillor Danny Palmer said: "If you stop misbehaving now, you will get what you want."

Coun Jerome asked the parish council to consider buying a skateboard trophy for village youngsters to compete for when the equipment was installed.