A NEW meeting place for young people in Addingham will soon be up and running.

For several months the parish council has been planning to open a coffee bar at the football pavilion, off Stockinger Lane, and now it looks set to get off the ground.

The idea of a base for young people stemmed from the rising cost of vandalism around the pavilion and, more recently, an increasing number of reports from villagers about nuisance gangs in the Memorial Hall car park.

Inspector Alison Bennett of Ilkley police said: "We have had a lot of reports about young people hanging around and drinking outside the hall, and at the moment we have a particular problem with a group coming into the village from Silsden."

Crowd

Councillor Barbara Haigh said one evening she saw a crowd of about 20 teenagers arrive in Addingham on the bus to gather outside the hall.

Insp Bennett added an officer was investigating the problem and suggested a set of rules should be drawn up for the new youth centre.

"The pavilion must have a no alcohol rule and we must give them the credit of some intelligence and trust them. They may prove to be more responsible than we give them credit for," she said.

Councillor Alan Jerome said it was about time the council made an effort to provide something for the teenagers.

"We provide lots of facilities for different age groups, such as old people and young children, but if I was a young person living here I would say there is nothing for young people," he said.

"We've been talking about this problem for months and now is the time when we should give them a chance. We should let them have the pavilion on a trial basis and give them the opportunity to prove themselves."

Disturbance

There were concerns that young people attending the pavilion would disturb elderly residents living in nearby flats.

Councillors said if there were any problems with the bar it would be closed down.

The coffee bar will be financed by the council and will initially open for a trial period on Friday nights to begin with and this will be extended if it proves a success.

A few volunteers have come forward to run the bar, but if anyone else is interested they should contact parish council chairman Stephen Crossley Smith, telephone (01943) 830640.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.