CHILDREN on a troubled Preston housing estate have put their heads together to produce a community magazine.

The 11 to 14 year olds from the Brookfield estate, off Watling Street Road, launched the first issue of the magazine for the recent Brookfield summer fun day on Sunday, August 12.

They are determined to put the estate on the map as a thriving and friendly community -- despite the area's reputation as a haven for nuisance and crime.

The children from the Space Place community centre, Langcliffe Road, decided to get in on the act and wrote the 30-page magazine complete with pictures.

Pam Cooper, chairman of the Brookfield United Tenants and Residents' Group and trustee of Space Place, said: "The magazine was started after decision by the 11 to 14 year old club at Space Place. The children felt there was nothing to read in most of the 'proper' newspapers for them so they came up with the idea for this magazine. The children have produced it all -- from photography to writing and they were there when it got printed."

The magazine is run by a group of eight children from the Space Place centre, and despite the daunting task of producing all the work themselves, the budding journalists had almost no help from adults.

Mrs Cooper added: "We support the children, but it is their magazine and we have promised that we won't interfere. I was mesmerised when I read it for the first time. The best bits are a problem page and a page called 'Why me?' which has a story about a girl with eczema. The children are hoping to run it bi-monthly, and charge 50p to help with the costs."

Pam hopes the magazine will show people a side of the Brookfield estate they don't normally get to see.

She explained: "This just goes to show that not all the teenagers on Brookfield are bad. People read these reports of violence and vandalism on the estate and think everyone is like that. But these teenagers have a heart of gold."