A GROUP of Ludgershall youngsters who have set up a committee to oversee a skate park on the village recreation ground have won a £5,500 grant from Tidworth Community Area Partnership (TCAP).

The project is dependent on them gaining a further £15,000 grant from Connexions, a Home Office-backed scheme.

The committee of six is backed by a petition signed by more than 70 young people and supported by police, the parish council - which will provide the land - and now TCAP.

At their meeting TCAP agreed to fund the project after hearing a plea from Tidworth Development Trust chief executive Steve Lawton.

"We expect to hear whether we have been given the grant by the middle of January. The whole project will cost in the region of £25,000," said Mr Lawton.

The need has been highlighted by a survey by police which showed that more than half the reported anti-social behaviour in the 55 square mile Tidworth section came from Ludgershall.

Providing things for young people to do has already been shown to drastically reduce poor youth behaviour in Tidworth.