PLANS to help combat youths causing mayhem in a village have taken a step forward.

Middleton St George Parish Council had recently been considering locking the gates to the Water Park in a bid to tackle anti-social behaviour.

"Boy racers" have been a recurring problem at the venue, driving cars around late at night.

Cans and bottles of alcohol, as well as drug-taking equipment, have also been frequently found there.

Council chairman Doris Jones confirmed yesterday that the authority would be pressing ahead with its plans to lock the gates each evening.

"We have gone out to tender on that and are getting quotes for it at the moment," she said.

"It's definitely going ahead. It will only stop the vehicles, not the people coming on foot, but we will look at everything we can.

"We also want to dress the area up a bit if we can and make it look more attractive."

The parish council has stated its desire to work with youngsters in the village in an effort to curb the nuisance behaviour.

It has set aside money from recent development schemes which could be ploughed into youth provision.