A NEW drop-in centre for young people staffed by qualified youth workers is being planned for a Basingstoke suburb.

Borough council leisure officers are drawing up plans for the facility, which would be adjacent to the Hatch Warren Community Centre and games area, and hope to submit a planning application within the next few weeks.

It is hoped that the centre will help to curb problems such as youth crime and anti-social behaviour by giving young people a place to socialise outside of school or college.

If the plans go ahead, the drop-in centre - which would be funded by money from developers - will have a cafeteria, quiet zone, computers and possibly a pool table, as well as providing access to the games area.

Hatch Warren borough councillor Phil Heath, who has been working on the project, said he hopes the borough council will employ a youth worker with assistants and volunteers, and that the centre will be open seven days a week to keep young people off the streets.

Cllr Heath said: "If we can put this together then we will not have the big gangs of youths wandering around. It is the final piece of the jigsaw. The multi-use games area was never the end of the process.

"There has been great interest from Brighton Hill and other areas because the plan, as I have been saying, is that this is a model that we should be rolling out to other areas."

He added that the facility could also be rented out to local community groups during school hours to help fund its running costs.

Residents will be able to have their say on the planning application after it has been registered with the borough council.

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