A LACK of activities for youths in rural areas is the root cause of a number of problems in Alvechurch, claims the chairman of the village's parish council.

Councillor John Puckering said with better activities for certain groups of youngsters, he thought problems of anti-social behaviour would soon disappear.

His comments came after Hopwood Community Centre in Redditch Road was targeted by vandals twice in as many weeks.

During one of the attacks, over the weekend of May 13-14, the front of the building was covered in graffiti.

Parish council clerk Yvonne Goode said the first time, vandals had pulled down guttering and in the past, even the tap outside the centre was stolen.

She said the council had also received complaints from residents that a bus shelter in the centre of the village is regularly used as an extension of the public toilets.

Mr Puckering said they had looked at solutions to both of these problems but he thought the issue boiled down to a lack of youth activities in the village.

"In Redditch, there are things for them to do but they have very little to do in a rural village," he said.

He added the parish council had set aside £10,000 out of its £60,000 annual budget for youth provision but it was difficult to get certain age groups involved.

"It's the older teenagers - there's stuff for the younger children but when they reach a certain age, things tend to disappear for them," said Mr Puckering.

"We need to get something done for them and then probably all the problems would disappear."

He added an increased police presence might help deter youngsters from antisocial behaviour and they had reported the problem at a recent PACT meeting.