A PURPOSE built 'teenage village' shelter has been erected in a bid to cut complaints about juvenile nuisance in a troubled Darwen community.

The £5,000 facility at the rear of Turncroft Nursery has been designed to provide a safe place for up to 15 young people from the area to meet.

Sergeant Graham Marshall, of Darwen Police, heads the team which has been looking for solutions. Their work in the Turncroft area has also included setting up regular patrols and sending out letters to parents of youngsters who have been spoken to by officers.

He said: "We came up with the idea of trying to get a shelter built because of the high number of complaints from residents about problems with general anti-social behaviour in the area.

"We soon realised the main problem was that there was nowhere for the young people to congregate. We wanted to do something positive."

The metal shelter was funded by Blackburn with Darwen Council and the Lancashire Partnership Against Crime Limited.

Councillor Frank Connor has supported the project, called Teenage Village, which has taken 10 months to get off the ground.

Pictured are Darwen police officers (from the left) PC Martin Bishop, PC Chris Johnson, PC Stuart Banks and Sergeant Graham Marshall with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's parks and amenities officer Catherine Creeton and local children at the opening of the new shelter.