A GROUP of young people in Bradley has approached the parish council wanting to set up a youth club, in an effort to combat vandalism in the village.

Nine youngsters attended the annual parish council meeting on Tuesday offering to fundraise and be involved in the management of the scheme.

The request was cautiously welcomed by councillors, who have been concerned for some time about the amount of damage caused by young people .

Chairman Fred Holmes said: "Vandalism is a constant problem on the playing fields, pavilion and toilets. We are having to spend money unnecessarily to put things right and it is an awful waste."

Fourteen-year-old Ben Wiggan, speaking for the young people, said: "The reason the vandalism is taking place is because there isn't much to do for teenagers and kids in the village. We have got together to find out what we can do. We think we could use the village hall to play pool and get together, rather than getting up to no good."

Parent Fiona Johnson said that involving the children in the planning and fundraising for the club would increase their feelings of ownership over the facilities.

"They have already looked at fundraising ideas and thought about the effect on elderly people. They are very keen to move this forward," she said.

But the village hall, in the centre of the village and close to houses, was not considered the best place for the club.

Resident John Hunt added that there had been problems in the past with youth clubs in the hall, and while he supported the venture, he said that he was particularly concerned about teenagers from outside the village causing trouble.

Coun Holmes added: "You have to have adequate and strong adult supervision at all times. You don't want gangs of outsiders hanging around outside and causing trouble."

Local area policing commander Sgt Steve Scott suggested that police officers could patrol the area at the time of the meeting, and drop in to the club. The young people said this would be welcomed, and a better relationship between the police and themselves could be established.

Resident Thomas Randell said that the cricket field's pavilion would be a more suitable venue for the youngsters to meet, as the village hall was used by groups nearly every night of the week.

"There is a very big facility for the youth of the village to use and they don't," he said. "I can't see any reason why a group of youths can't use the facility at night."

Councillors said there had been such clubs in the past, but these had been discontinued due to lack of interest and volunteers. One concern was that the youngsters would lose interest.

Another suggestion was the construction of a skate park, and the establishment of junior sports clubs for the young teenagers.

The council agreed to look at the ideas, and discuss them more fully at its next meeting. In the meantime, members will be looking at other possible venues, including the church halls. It was felt that the pavilion was too far away from the village to be suitably supervised

District Coun Patricia Fairbank added that she would look into what funding was available for such schemes. She said that a similar project in Cononley had seen a reduction in the amount of vandalism around the village.

Coun Derek Conuel welcomed the move, saying: "I have sat here at meetings discussing vandalism without finding a solution. Everyone acknowledges the fact that not all children are vandals. I think they deserve to be listened to and their thoughts considered very seriously."