A youth club in a Shropshire village has closed its doors temporarily in a bid to stop anti-social behaviour after complaints about some youngsters.

The two-week closure – which comes to an end on Monday – aims to act as a warning to youngsters in the village.

It is telling them to behave – or face losing the facility for good.

Problems started when some members of Whittington Youth Group – which has met at Whittington Senior Citizens Hall for the last three years – showed “a lack of respect for the building.”

The joint use agreement for the hall was then cancelled.

Committee members of both organisations have since got together and agreed the temporary closure of the youth group rather than a permanent ban on the youngsters using the building.

Youth session leader Julie Ruler said the reopening of the youth group, at 6.30pm on Monday, would offer the young people some “new challenges”.

She said: “Whittington Senior Citizens Club has been allowing the youth group to share their facilities for three years. But due to minor anti-social behaviour, and lack of respect for the building, they were faced with making a decision to cancel the agreement.

“The committees from both groups got together and discussed concerns and have agreed that closing the youth group would be unfair, because the majority of the members really enjoy the opportunities the group offers to young people.”

Mrs Ruler said she had supported the group for more than five years and had always been in a position to control the young people’s behaviour.

All the support workers and volunteers are trained by Shropshire Youth Association and could usually relate to the group.

But she added: “In recent months, some of the young people coming to the group were getting bored and disruptive. I did not take lightly the decision to close but felt it necessary to give the youngsters time to experience life without a weekly place to meet and socialise.

“I have spoken to the parents of those involved and hope that we can start with a clean slate.”

By Deborah Knox