TEENAGE skateboarders in an east Cleveland town are causing havoc because they do not have proper facilities.

Councillor Joan Sands, who represents the Saltburn ward on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Saltburn, Marske and New Marske Parish Council wants to see proper facilities provided in the town and is concerned at the problems the teenagers are creating.

But she has been told that the cost of providing adequate facilities could be as much as £80,000 because the skaters need equipment that will keep them challenged.

Councillor Sands said: "It is a problem and I have been desperately trying to get the skaters some facilities since I was elected three years ago.

"They need somewhere where they can do their skating but we just keep coming up against brick walls because the problem is funding.

"They are skateboarding in the shopping precinct, meaning shoppers are having to duck and dive around them as they jump off the pavement and on to the road, and it is annoying the residents.

"The skaters are not doing anything illegal and they are not bad lads - they are just enjoying themselves, but we just want somewhere specifically for them."

She said that the council was trying to find funding from different sources, but the problem is that, unlike most other areas in east Cleveland, Saltburn is not classed as a deprived area, so it does not qualify for funding such as Single Regeneration Budget.