COUNCIL bosses want to build bus shelter-style huts for young people to hang-out in around South Buckinghamshire in a bid to cut vandalism.

The youth shelters, which consist of a roof supported by pillars, are designed for teenagers to hang around in to distract them from vandalising other buildings.

A Wycombe District Council officers' report on the shelters said they should be next to basketball courts and football pitches.

It added: "They can be undercover when not actually playing, and it would be somewhere for the girls to sit and talk."

The report, which followed discussions with local teenagers, quoted one young person as saying: "Boys just need a basketball or a football and they are happy, whereas us girls want to have to talk and go on trips."

Hazlemere Parish Council discussed introducing the shelters on Tuesday following complaints from residents about vandalism in the village.

Parish council chairman Bob Bate said he planned to talk to the police following complaints from teenagers in Hazlemere who were causing a nuisance.

Cllr Bate told the Bucks Free Press after the meeting that the council is always looking for ways to cut down vandalism.

Mr Bate added: "These shelters are not something that we have even begun to consider but we will always look at things that have the potential to cut vandalism."

Cllr Trevor Fazackerley said that before shelters were introduced in and around the Aylesbury Vale district, vandals had caused £300,000 worth of damage.

After the shelters were introduced, this was reduced to virtually nothing.

Cllr Bate added: "I think that the scale of improvement described by Cllr Fazackerley is not really possible but we have an open mind about it.

"A couple of years ago, we had an awful lot of vandalism to the street lamps which cost us £12,000 to repair and that has reduced considerably but other things happen.

"We will certainly look at any possible initiative and obviously make a decision at a future date."

The Wycombe District Council report added that the teenagers said there should be no frills at the shelters.

It read: "They readily accepted that things would get broken and misused by a minority.

"These sites were certainly not suitable for any notices about drugs, alcohol or sex. 'Just a plain bench under cover'."

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