Youngsters in Lancashire want someone to take responsibility and re-build their local football pitch

The football pitch known popularly as the Cage, based off St Stephen's Road in Little Harwood, Blackburn, caters for many youngsters of all backgrounds from the area. It has no floodlights and is in need of dire repair.

Like in most inner city areas the Cage is one of very few pitches where youngsters can play football or cricket in the evenings

Sajid Jogee of Pelham St called us down to have a look. He said, "Everyone turns up to have a game of football here throughout the week and it gets so busy sometimes there's no space. In the summer months it is packed.

"But it needs to be repaired. First of all there are no floodlights so throughout the winter months most kids had nothing to do in the evening."

"Secondly the pitch needs to be re-laid. Astro-turf would be a perfect."

Blackburn with Darwen has probably the best astro-turf playing area in the county at Witton Park. But this was miles away.

"The nearest playing areas to here are in Brookhouse, those being St John's and the Bangor Street pitch. But they are always too busy."

"We've been trying to get something done but we always get told it will be looked into. As at yet nothings happened and it's been over three years."

Local councillor Abdul Patel said residents had objected to floodlights going up however they were looking other ways to improve the pitch. He said, "We did try to get floodlights but residents voted against it. We are looking to improve the area but we cannot say how long this will take."

A campaign to improve the state of the pitch has been one of the major objectives of the local group LHY (Little Harwood Youth), which set up in 2000.

Mukhtar, LHY group leader said, "The Cage is a symbol of what the area in general is becoming.

"I can understand there have been objections to the floodlights for the pitch but what about an artificial surface?"

"We have been campaigning for over two years for something to be done and it is partly one of the reasons the LHY group was born."

"At the moment the group is hoping to launch an internet cafe at the local community centre and publish a newsletter."

The LHY group last year released a hard-hitting CD called Truth Hurts which featured three underground-style tunes. All the tracks were written by teenagers and the lyrics exposed racial tensions and claims that the council had neglected the area. At the time of the launch the council welcomed it as constructive criticism.

Among the lyrics on the CD is a reference to the Cage which states: "The promise of floodlights never reality, Astro-turf plans dismissed entirely, continual hypocrisy."