YOUNGSTERS could get a £200,000 indoor skate park in Devizes within 18 months, it was revealed this week.

The groundwork is being done on planning the project, which will involve building an extension on the front of the Southbroom Youth Centre on the campus of Devizes School.

Devizes Town Council gave the project its blessing on Tuesday night and a working party involving representatives of county, district and town councils as well as youth workers and skateboarders themselves, is meeting today to discuss the possible financing of the project.

Boarders in the area have had nowhere to skate since Hillworth Park resident Bill Richardson won a case against the town council at Bath County Court in March against the presence of the skate park a few yards from his door, which forced its closure.

The idea to site the skate park at the Southbroom Centre came from youth and community worker Margaret Lamb, a member of the council's skateboard park working group.

She said: "I thought that the youth club was the ideal site for a skate park. But I felt what we really needed was an indoor site which could be easily supervised and secure when it was closed. Then the idea came to me of building an extension to the youth centre.

"It is perfect. Because the entrance is lower than the level of the perimeter road, even if it was the same height as the building it would not be overwhelming."

Although no plans have yet been drawn up, Mrs Lamb sees the extension as being a dome from the roof of the centre to where the grass meets the pavement.

The walls would be brick to fit in with the school and the leisure centre, but the roof would be glass to let in more light and enable youth workers to monitor the activities in the skate park. It would run the length of the youth centre building, about 30 metres, extend about ten metres and be about 15 to 20 metres high.

As well as being all-weather, the proposed centre would have the benefit of being central and in an area where young people already gather. It could have the same opening hours as the youth club, which is open six nights a week, although it could be opened on its own.

The biggest problem is funding the project, but the skateboard park working group is already looking at the matter seriously.

Mrs Lamb said: "We have set ourselves a very strict timetable for approaching match-funders to reduce the cost to £100,000."

It is also possible that funds may be available from the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative, administered by the Regional Development Agency, for which Devizes is one of two Wiltshire pilots.

Town councillors welcomed the scheme when it was announced by town manager Simon Fisher at Tuesday evening's meeting of the recreation and properties committee.

Coun Paula Winchcombe said: "If it came off it would be wonderful."

Coun Adrian Mills said: "I cannot underline too strongly the urgency of this project. I am concerned to see boarders forced to practise in car parks and streets. One youngster was knocked off his board in the Crown car park recently."

Mr Richardson was delighted to hear of the new scheme. He said: "It sounds an excellent idea. It is indoors so they can use it all day and all night if they want and the noise won't disturb anybody.

"I never had anything against the kids who used the skate park, it was just the bloody stupid adults who put the skate park there."

George Wiscombe, 16, one of the skateboarders who is on the working party, said: "It seems like a brilliant idea. It is a permanent site and it is in the right place. We would have to redesign it, but it looks good."

The skateboarders would be consulted on the design of the layout of ramps.