A SKATE park which is said to be the second biggest tourist attraction in Burnley is set to close — after running out of cash.

Promoters of Interact, at the Bank Hall Works, off Colne Road, say they have received little town hall backing, despite having 7,000 members and recently hostling Europe-wide skateboard and BMX events.

Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle said he believed that if Interact had 7,000 members then it should be able to produce a sustainable business plan which might secure grant funding.

The closure has dismayed local youngsters who said the facility was a “huge loss to the area”. It is set to close within weeks.

Interact boss Sally Ingram says that the skate park is second only to Turf Moor in the number of visitors it gets.

And a local police officer said it would be a “crying shame” if the facility closed because of the positive impact it has had for youngsters in the area.

But Interact has been turned down when applying to the borough council for grant funding — amid claims it has not done enough for the community.

The venture has been hit by a second blow after the site’s owners, James Pollard and Sons, of Farrington Road, submitted blueprints to Burnley council to convert their Bank Hall home into offices.

Nelson-based agents Hook Developments are behind the proposals, which were unveiled last month and would see Interact having to move out by late summer, when their lease expires.

The skate park has Europe’s biggest indoor wooden bowl and a giant foam pit, cafe, balcony viewing area, mini ramp and skate shop, and has been open since 2002.

Sally, formerly of Drammen Avenue, Rosegrove, has run the skate park with her husband Steve for the last three years.

She said: “We have had to close because no-one would support us and we don’t have an endless pit of money.

“I am absolutely devastated and I am probably extremely bitter as well.

“We held two of the biggest competitions in Europe while we were here. We’ve turned out some of the best skaters and riders in the country.

“We needed people to help us and support from the council. We went for funding but they said we hadn’t done enough for the community.

“For kids it was a safe haven and now they will have nowhere to go.”

PC Dave Pascoe, a Bank Hall neighbourhood bobby, added: “It will be a crying shame if it closes because it’s such a good facility for youngsters in the community.

“It is a fantastic building and kids absolutely love it. If it was subsidised and could stay open it would be of great benefit to Burnley.”

Ironically the borough council has recently erected a number of town centre signs warning skateboarders that using the newly-laid public Thompson Centre car park for their hobby is strictly prohibited.

The council introduced a byelaw more than two years ago making it an offence to skateboard or rollerblade on a number of public sites within the town centre boundaries.

Coun Birtwistle said: “It is is not up to the council tax payers of Burnley to prop up private companies. And it is easy for opposition councillors to suggest that we invest in something which we do not know the first thing about.”

Sally and her husband are now moving to Newcastle to work at another skate park backed by the city council there.

The closure has been condemned by two councillors from neighbouring Daneshouse and Stoneyholme ward.

Coun Wajid Khan, a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire who specialises in citizenship, said: “Surely this is an important part of keeping children off the streets and should be something the borough council should be supporting?”

Coun Shah Hussain criticised the borough council’s Liberal Democrat administration for spending Whitehall neighbourhood funding on civic functions like street cleaning instead of supporting community activities.

“Something like the skate park could have used this funding, to support employment and the community aspect of the work carried out there for young people,” he added.