A COMMUNITY-spirited Leyland shop owner is leading the fight to get local children off the streets and into a planned activity centre.

Karen Cairns, who runs TK's General stores in Church Road, Leyland, realised that many local children had nothing to do in their town. After a council leaflet dropped through her front door she began to hand out questionnaires to all the youngsters who visited her shop.

She said: "I got a Focus leaflet through the post which was asking for ideas on what could be done to keep children off the streets. All the local children come into the shop, so I did a survey of all four high schools in Leyland, to find out what they want to do to get them off the street at night. A total 1,278 children completed the questionnaires, which was a 64 per cent return.

"I wrote a letter to the council suggesting a purpose-built activity centre for children and Michelle Edwin, a former county councillor, got in touch wanting to know more."

Karen's idea is for a centre, built by children for children. Her survey revealed that a shocking 71 per cent of Leyland youngsters who returned the form say they play on the streets because there is nothing else for them to do in the town.

She said: "There isn't a lot for 11 to 16 year olds to do in Leyland. We want children to build the centre alongside tradesmen and then have competitions between schools to design areas inside the complex. More than half of the children say that they would help with the building."

A community meeting organised by Leyland Youth Action Group was held last night (Wednesday) at Balshaws High School, in Church Road, to discuss the idea.

Speaking before the meeting South Ribble MP David Borrow said he welcomed constructive ideas. He said: "This is a listening meeting. It is a matter of finding out what youngsters really need. It is wrong to assume they all want to cause trouble."

"Children often hang around on the streets because there is nothing laid on for them. It is a matter of looking at the needs of youngsters in a particular area and work with youth services, the council, and local schools to seperate those youngsters who want to cause trouble from those who don't."We would like the whole community involved. We know this is going to be a massive task, but we also know that we can achieve it with everybody's help."