WE have some sympathy with York councillors in their quest to do the impossible.

Tony Blair's centralist Government has imposed rafts of new statutory duties on local authorities, yet withheld the money to pay for them. Many of the prospective cuts to local services can be laid at Whitehall's door, not the Guildhall's. That said, the council's funding reduction to Stagecoach Youth Theatre York is both mean and muddled.

The decision will save the council £2,000 this year. A drop in the ocean, as one opposition councillor put it, but leisure boss Coun Keith Orrell was defiant. Small amounts all add up to the millions required, he pointed out.

Fine words. But this new-found parsimony sits oddly alongside the council's lofty talk about building a new £30 million headquarters, and a possible £110 million transport scheme - ideas investigated by consultants whose fees dwarf the costs of running Stagecoach.

This decision is also politically potty. Here is a city council pledge: "That initiatives are developed, supported and encouraged aimed at proactively engaging young people in activities which meet their own desires, interests and needs, act as a deterrent to anti-social behaviour and assist young people in taking pride in their communities." Stagecoach did all that - and entertained York audiences into the bargain. Moreover, the theatre group was doing this remarkable work long before York council decided to promote the artistic side of life with the city of festivals and other initiatives. Bringing the curtain down on Stagecoach defies the council's own youth and cultural policies and will save less than the annual expense of a Park Grove parking meter.

We urge the full council to overturn this bad decision.

Updated: 10:15 Tuesday, January 17, 2006