PROPOSALS to build a youth centre at Edge End High School in Brierfield to tackle juvenile nuisance have been given the go-ahead.

The £478,000 development will involve the refurbishment of a building underneath the science block and allow a new single storey extension to be built.

The new centre will be a base for activities for young people which, it is hoped, would help reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and drug misuse in the area.

The centre will include recreational and educational activities for young people to enhance the quality and use of their time.

The majority of people using the centre will be from the deprived wards of Bradley and Whitefield in Nelson and from Brierfield.

Headteacher Martin Burgess said: "It will be a wonderful project and great opportunity for the school to work with the community at promoting both racial harmony and reducing juvenile nuisance.

"The school has itself suffered badly in the past from vandalism and we feel that the best way to avoid these kind of things would be to provide young people with a meaningful occupation.

"If they need access to the playing fields, they are there for them. Or if they needed access to the school for special occasions we can also let them have that."

During school hours the building will support work such as the Princes Trust xl club, a cyber cafe, after school clubs and the Government-funded Learning Support Unit which aims to reduce truancy and overcome social exclusion by helping disadvantaged young people.

It could also be used as a youth club, sports and social club and for, recruitment days, project development work, residential planning, training ad development and community events.

The centre will stay open until 10pm throughout the week.

It will be independent from the school with separate entrances and its own plumbing, lighting and toilets so that the school would not need to be open to use the centre.

Pendle Partnership has allocated £160,000 towards the development, with £250,000 from the Schools Standards Fund.