THE closure of the youth club in Middleton St George has been blamed for an alarming rise in youths' rowdy behaviour.

Middleton St George Parish Council heard over the past month there had been 19 reports of anti-social behaviour.

Darlington Borough Council has said it is working to try and restore the youth club as soon as possible.

The council is also investigating the possibility of making parts of the village an alcohol-free zone in a bid to curb anti-social behaviour.

The majority of the incidents were located in the High Stell area.

Councillors felt there were a number of reasons for the increase. The chairman, Coun Doris Jones, said for the past month the village youth club had not been running as one of the two youth workers had gone on maternity leave.

She said: "The other leader can't run it on her own, but we still don't have a replacement.

"We've just listened to a list of incidents as long as your arm and it's simply because there's nothing to do."

PC Boyd Rowe, the local beat officer, said he had been trying to get funds from the council for youth services but was not having much luck.

A council spokeswoman said: "Our strategy in the rural areas has been to work with volunteers to set up youth clubs as we do not have the resources to run them full-time.

"This has worked in many areas but where it has been less successful we are looking at other ways of organising activities for young people and are in discussions with Middleton St George Parish Council about new ways to engage people in the area."

Coun Jones said she had recently met residents of Woodland Green and High Stell.

As a result, she has been working with the borough solicitor to try and make the Water Park and the children's play area an alcohol-free zone.

This would allow police to issue fixed penalties of £50 if anyone is caught drinking there.

She said: "Yarm and Stockton have this, so I can't think why we in this village can't do it."