RESIDENTS of Sherbourne Court in Prestwich can have their say on plans to discourage yobs from hanging about outside their homes.

They are invited to the next meeting of Prestwich Area Board on Tuesday (April 27) when the subject will be discussed.

In the past, residents have been intimidated by gangs of young people who congregate in a ginnel that provides access from the side of Bargain Booze in Bury New Road to the flats in Sherbourne Court.

Area co-ordinator Carran O'Grady said: "This is no bad reflection on Bargain Booze. It just happens to be that the pathway is next door to the shop and some of the youths are asking older people to buy alcohol for them.

"They are then sheltering behind the shop and it is intimidating for elderly people. We want to design out the problem with the help of the police."

Housing services at Bury Council have been working with the police to come up with a number of options to try to control access to the footpath.

Carran said there would be an update on the situation at the area board and residents could give their views on the progress. She added: "While we want to control the access, we need to be mindful of the people who rely on the footpath to get to the Longfield Centre for their shopping. If it was to close permanently then some people would suffer."

The meeting will be held at the Longfield Suite from 7pm and everyone is welcome.

Also at the meeting will be an update on the new NHS walk-in centre for Prestwich.

As reported in the Guide the site, on the corner of Fairfax Road and Rectory Lane, will provide the first walk-in centre for Bury South and only the second in the borough.

It will be built as an extension of Prestwich Health Centre, which already provides patients with a GP service, and should be up and running in July. Nurse manager Amanda Pearce will give a presentation at the meeting, informing people how the centre will work, why they are so popular and how they can relieve the stresses of local doctors' surgeries.