DELIGHTED youngsters are looking forward to finally seeing an £88,000 skatepark in their town.

Teesdale District Council has given planning permission for the skate park which will be sited behind Teesdale Sports Centre in Barnard Castle.

For many years, young people in the town have campaigned for better youth facilities.

Recently, a Market Towns Initiative healthcheck highlighted the need for better facilities and a group of young people have been working with Teesdale Leisure Services, County Durham Investing in Children and Teesdale Community Resources (TCR) to develop the skate park.

The council's decision has made youngsters more optimistic that they can get what they want if they work hard enough, said Keith Jones, the education in community worker at TCR.

He said: "We're all delighted, the council have made the right decision and we hope they will follow this up with other things.

"We can now demonstrate that things do happen if young people are willing to take part. But that's not to say young people's issues should not be on the agenda as a matter of course."

There were concerns from councillors about problems with access to the site and the potential for road accidents as children arrived on skateboards.

However, principal planning officer Trevor Watson said: "At Teesdale Sports Centre we already have the biggest concentration of children in Barnard Castle. Surely, it's better to focus any future development for young people within that development."

Paul Branch, leisure manager at Teesdale District Council, said: "I'm delighted this has been given permission. The young people have planned this and really driven this through - I've just been a facilitator. I'm very pleased for them

"However, not all the funding has yet been secured, but we're hopeful that it will be."

The skate park will operate within the same opening times as the sports centre and will be monitored by closed-circuit TV.

It is expected to self-finance its £4,500 per year running costs by charging a membership fee and charging for casual use, and by hiring and selling skateboarding equipment