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 Queen's 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 Queen's 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 last night's executive committee voted to defer approval of the schemes for consultation, apart from Queen's Park and Fulledge which have already gone to consultation.

The work should be complete by October and will include full consultation with youngsters likely to be using the facilities, residents and user groups.

Aaron Callaghan, Burnley council's parks services manager, said: "The schemes are aimed at improving open spaces where there are problems with anti-social behaviour, and where the facilites are not up to scratch at the moment."

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.