A South Woodham youth club is set for a major relaunch in a bid to attract a wider membership and put problems with troublemakers behind it.

The Starz Youth Club, in the William de Ferrers Centre, can look forward to new televisions, computers and furniture, as well as refurbishments to existing features like the pool table, thanks to a grant from Essex Youth Service.

The centre was temporarily closed last Christmas after a worker was injured by youths.

It was forced to shut again a month later when fire doors were wrecked, and the centre has experienced repeated problems with vandalism ever since.

But town councillor Jim Barnett said regular police patrols have helped improve behaviour and youngsters are now more willing to speak out about those responsible for the damage.

Cllr Barnett said although definite details on the relaunch had yet to be decided, they were in discussions with Essex Youth Service and the police about the best way forward.

He added that a joint approach was now being taken by the town council, which runs the club on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and Essex Youth Service, which operates it on Mondays and Thursdays.

"We are now having monthly meetings between our staff and their staff, which I will be going along to and the police will attend," he said.

"There has only been one so far, so it's hard to talk about the benefits, but staff put problems on the agenda and we feed back to each other," he added.

Insp Chris White, who has been working with both of the organisers, confirmed that police had included the town centre club in patrols.

However, he said more needed to be done to reclaim the club for children who still did not want to go there because of previous trouble.

Published Friday August 13, 2004

Brought to you by the Essex Chronicle