DISGUSTED youth club members in the village of Edgworth have rolled up their sleeves to counteract attacks by "outsiders" on their facilities. The young people have decided to raise money to pay for damage caused to the building where they meet.

Their image has been tarnished by vandals "visiting" the picturesque village north of Bolton only to do damage.

Local youths are getting the blame for fires started using waste paper from a recycling bank, vandalism of the historic Barlow Institute where they meet and incidents of youths seen smoking marijuana.

Youth Club members are proud of their youth club in the Institute and have even asked for an extra night to meet.

They have managed to persuade Crown Paints in Darwen to give them free paint to brighten up the rooms where they meet.

Members Sally Knowles, 14, and Gail Whitlock, 14, pupils at Turton High School, made personal pleas to Turton parish councillors to understand the teenagers' point of view.

They told parish councillors about hooligans from outside the area who were vandalising property and smoking drugs.

Sally said: "Windows were smashed and fires are started from the recycling bins. People were smoking cannabis. It's easy to catch a bus to Edgworth from town. They were coming up from Hall i'th' Wood, Harwood, Bromley Cross. We take a pride in our things, but they obviously didn't care."

To prove their claims, they have begun organising fundraising events and even formed litter picking groups to remove rubbish from the open areas around the Barlow Institute.

They have held a fair with stalls selling things they had made themselves and other stalls, as well as a beat-the-goalie competition.

Parish councillors heard that extra police patrols by the three PCs who are in charge of the Turton area and CCTV signs had now largely put a stop to the trouble. Turton teenagers also petitioned the parish councillors for an extra youth night on Fridays to beat the boredom of weekends.

Gail told adults at the parish council meeting: "We only have one youth club night on Tuesday. We had a girls' night taken off us. We have got a massive youth group. We want something to do on a Friday night."

The youth club, which now has a new table tennis table, pool table and refurbished snooker table, has even formed its own committee at the Barlow Institute in Edgworth.

Councillors have promised to push for more youth workers from Blackburn Council officers to set up the extra night.

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