DEMOLITION workers have moved in to knock down a ramshackle pavilion which became a meeting place for boozy nuisance teenagers.

The former playgroup building at Rhyddings Park, Oswaldtwistle, was highlighted by a neighbourhood policeman as a den where young vandals met to drink alcohol.

PC Paul Schofield wrote to 750 residents in March asking them to back his campaign to get the pavilion knocked down.

He said youths congregating near the "eyesore" building at the top end of the park were drinking alcohol and vandalising nearby residents' property.

His letter upset Hyndburn Council, which said it had already planned to get rid of the pavilion, but had not done so because it did not want to fall foul of Government planning rules.

The council approved plans to demolish the building in May and recently received the go-ahead from Environment Secretary John Prescott to knock it down.

Demolition work is already under way and should be completed this week.

The 1960s brick pavilion, on the site of the former Park Mansion, was used by a toddlers' group until it was burnt out a couple of years ago. A plan to recreate the outline of the old mansion on the ground is being considered as part of a £680,000 lottery bid to regenerate the park. The council is working on sweeping plans to breathe new life into the historic park.

Earlier this year £10,000 from the capital spending budget was set aside to make improvements.

Plans include rebuilding the coach house as a centre for after-school activities, replacing boundary walls, creating new play areas, moving the pet's corner and replacing worn-out paths.

Other funds ,including insurance payouts, will be used to boost the programme.

A spokesman for Hyndburn Council said: "The pavilion is being pulled down because it is both an eyesore and a public health risk.

"Lately is has also become a magnet for vandals."

Hyndburn Council's parks and open spaces officer Andrew Hayhurst said removing the pavilion had always been part of the council's plan for the park, but the council had held off applying for permission to knock it down.

The reason for the delay was because the council did not want to upset a £680,000 bid for heritage lottery money and because it did not want to fall foul of any time limit for demolition attached by Government if the plan was approved.

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