THE town’s youth club, which was forced to close last month due to anti-social behaviour, will remain closed in the short term.

The trustees of the Basement Youth Trust who run the facility with the team of youth workers met at the end of October to find a solution as to how to reopen the club safely with minimum disruption to the local neighbourhood.

Sadly, the conclusion was that this is not possible under the current circumstances.

The trustees believe that the group of young people, who have been excluded from the club, after being given several warnings and temporary bans for breaching the rules of behaviour, that they currently pose too much of a risk to the safety of the staff and peaceful users of the club.

The youths are regularly trying to force entry to the club whenever the door is opened, and it is not safe for the staff to try and repel these attacks.

A representative of the trustees further explained: “Our focus over the next few weeks will be to engage with the headteacher and the pastoral care team at John Kyrle High School, the parents of the youths involved and the police and Police Community Support Officers team.

“We will work together on an outreach programme to try to explain to the young people the potential consequences of their actions and to get undertakings from them to stay away from the club when it is reopened.

“Once we feel adequate progress has been made, we will reopen on a trial basis.

“We’ve asked several times for regular attendance in the vicinity of the club from the police to act as a deterrent but have so far failed to get a commitment to this.

“We have asked again for the police to consider providing a presence when we reopen and hope that maybe resources can be prioritised for this to happen.”

Ragout
RAGOUT: How the Ross Gazette reported the trustees' decision to close the youth club last month. (Tindle)

A recent public meeting, attended by West Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner and the local police inspector, heard from a trustee who said: “We are currently witnessing the worst behaviour by youths in the 20 years I have been involved with the club. I’ve not seen the behaviour like this in the 12 to 18 age group before.”