PONTELAND Town Council has agreed to fund outreach work for the youth of the town in an attempt to stamp out anti-social behaviour.

Councillors discussed a new package of youth provision on offer from Northumberland County Council.

The proposal caused a heated debate, with some town councillors feeling that the youth service previously provided by the county council had not produced sufficient results to merit more funding.

Coun. Adam Shanley said: “I disagree with this. The service has not been a solution to the problem.

“We had a report from the youth service and they said we didn’t have a problem with anti-social behaviour.

“We should take this money and decide how we want to deliver the local service. We know better as a council where that money should be spent.”

Coun. Sue Johnson added: “The team is from Blyth, and the problems they face in Blyth are completely different to the ones in Ponteland.”

However, Ponteland’s mayor, Coun. Alan Varney, said: “I think we need to do this three-month trial and decide after that if we want to continue.

“We want to say to them, ‘go find the ones who are being anti-social’. We want to target the ones who are causing disturbances and damage.”

Coun. Alan Hall added: “I support it in the hope that it will make a difference.”

Following the debate, the council unanimously agreed to fund a three-month trial of the new outreach work, with monthly updates on the youth team’s work, to start later in the year when the darker nights come in.

A spokeswoman for Northumberland County Council said: “The council will be working with the town council to target youth support within the town where it is most needed.”