A YOUTH volunteer who helped turn a derelict shop into a thriving youth club says the group is responsible for reducing complaints about teenage nuisance in her village.

Langley Park Youth Action Group manager Linda Halliday has come out fighting after Derwentside District Council decided to refuse permission to change the use of a shop to a youth centre.

After hearing arguments that youngsters would be too noisy for nearby residents, the council blocked plans for a full conversion at the site in Front Street, Langley Park, near Durham City.

But Mrs Halliday, who has been running the drop-in centre since last July, said she has received the support of young people and the community, and has vowed to appeal.

She said members of the community had provided electrical wiring, central heating and carpets for the centre.

Others had given up their time to decorate the centre, and the landlord had agreed to let the youngsters have the site rent-free for five years.

She said: "The kids have been branded a nuisance, but I don't think you'll find a better bunch of youngsters. The council made their decision based on the noise element. They agreed with two objectors who said they would cause annoyance.

"But a police study of teenage behaviour in Derwentside over the last seven months has proved this has been dramatically reduced in Langley Park since the action group started.

"In fact, police told us that, out of 18,000 teenage nuisance complaints in Derwentside, only 1.07 per cent were in Langley Park. That figure tells its own story."

Members of the planning committee ruled that the proposed change of use would have a detrimental effect on people in the area.

They also heard that there was another rival youth centre called All Saints operating in the village, and that Mrs Halliday had no qualifications to work with youngsters.

Mrs Halliday said that, should the planning appeal fail, she intended to reapply for a change of use into a cyber caf. There are five computers already installed at the site