CALLS have been made to reopen the Helter Skelter teen cafe in a bid to get youngsters off the streets.

The youth centre facility, which was opened in Largs during the early 2000s, was a voluntarily-run escape for teenagers with gaming facilities and a pool table upstairs.

The premises has fallen into disrepair and needs considerable investment to bring it back into use - but community councillors feel it would be money well spent.

The subject came up following a discussion at a recent meeting about the vandalism to public toilets in town and youth disorder in Anderson Park, as well as concerns over teenage drinking.

Largs council chairman Anne Carson says Helter Skelter would be a good project for Largs Academy to consider - and one for the whole town to get involved with.

But independent councillor Ian Murdoch raised the issue of funding, adding: "How do you finance Helter Skelter and who runs it?

"Helter Skelter has been run by two or three different entities over the years. You need a group or committee to keep it going and keep it sustainable for 10 to 15 years for it to work.

"I would love to see a nice new shopfront and cafe area. Children ould get involved and it would teach them about business and provide them with valuable workplace experience.

"Older people could also use the facility pass on their wisdom and expertise while the younger people could be providing information back in terms of their knowledge of computers and IT.

"There needs to be a long term commitment to it."

Conservative councillor Tom Marshall said: "It was a group of parents who came together to set up Helter Skelter.

"It used to be the parents of pupils who were at the school who used to run it but when they moved out of that age range, it started to fall apart.

"Ideally you need to find parents in school with children of that age to help run it.

"You can't let young people run it on their own - there needs to be adult assistance. You would need a structure."

The Helter Skelter centre was opened up by the late Christine McAulay, who was an active community personality who initiated a girls' football team, and helped pull the funding and resources together. She was also head teacher at Kelburn Primary.

In more recent years, the centre has provided help for people with dementia, and was even used as Santa's grotto in 2016 for Yuletide night.

The subject will be brought back before a future meeting of the community council for further discussion.