Selby councillors plan to spend £4,000 on a weekend's skateboarding for local youngsters - as a prelude to building a £70,000 permanent skate park.

A mobile skateboarding park will be transported all the way from Maidenhead, Berkshire, and installed on the outdoor tennis courts at Selby Abbey Leisure Centre.

It will be open for use on the weekend beginning Saturday, June 15, and teenagers will be bussed in free from Sherburn-in-Elmet, Tadcaster and outlying villages.

The skateboarding spectacular will coincide with Selby's annual family fun day on Sunday, June 16.

Selby district councillor Stephanie Duckett said she was confident the weekend trial would lead to a permanent skate park on land at the front of the leisure centre, in Scott Road.

She said: "The company we plan to hire will provide expert tuition for the kids and advise us on the best equipment when it comes to building our own permanent skate park.

"Once that is up-and-running, we can then look at satellite skate parks in other towns and villages."

The "satellite" parks would cost about £20,000 each, but Coun Duckett, who is chairman of the council's community services committee, said it would be money well spent.

There were 1,200 incidents of youths causing a nuisance in Selby last year. Coun Duckett said a skate park would give youngsters somewhere to go instead of hanging around street corners.

Councillors gave the weekend skateboarding event the go-ahead after a questionnaire revealed a large percentage of youths wanted the facility more than anything else. The weekend will include a DJ and competitions and quizzes with prizes.

Coun Duckett (Lab) said: "I'm sure the kids will be queuing up."

Conservative councillor Jean Ashton, however, was less enthusiastic.

She said: "It's a lot of money to spend on what could be a fad that disappears as quickly as it arrived. There are also problems with supervision and insurance.

"Installing portable ramps in leisure centres and youth clubs would be a cheaper option."

Updated: 14:13 Thursday, May 09, 2002