SIX Burnley parks are set to be given a £500,000 overhaul as part of a bid to tackle juvenile nuisance.

The 'teen zone initiative', managed by Burnley Council, aims to improve facilities for young people across the borough.

The project is aimed at 12 to 20-year-olds and will mean new facilities at Queens Park, Scott Park, Barden Gardens, Forfar Street, Burnley Wood and Fulledge Recreation Ground.

Money for the 'teen zones' comes from European funding and neighbourhood renewal sources like Elevate.

The proposed schemes will cost a total of £487, 225 and will see floodlighting and a new ball court in Queens Park; a multi-use ball court, ranger pavilion and CCTV in Scott Park; court resurfacing and CCTV in Barden Gardens; replacement fencing and court refurbishment in Forfar Street; CCTV and a youth shelter in Brunswick Street in Burnley Wood, and a new floodlit court and equipment in Fulledge Recreation Ground.

Youth outreach work will also aim to develop the use of the zones with a possible five-a-side football league.

Councillors at Burnley's executive committee voted to approve the schemes.

Aaron Callaghan, Burnley council's parks development manager, said: "We have consulted with the park rangers and police and identified a number of sites where there are recreation deficiencies or problems with anti-social behaviour. This project should help address some of those issues by providing adequate facilities for teenagers."

A citizen's panel survey in 1999 revealed that 57 per cent of people thought that provision for 11 to 20-year-olds in the borough was poor, and the task force recommendations which followed the riots of 2001 identified the need to improve facilities for teenagers.