CHILDREN will be pushed towards crime if council youth centre funding is axed, police have warned.

Thames Valley Police has spoken out against Oxfordshire County Council’s plans to stop funding 21 youth centres. The council is calling on volunteers to step in.

Youngsters say their peers will be drawn to underage drinking, violence and teenage sex without the support of youth workers.

Insp Graham Dix, responsible for youth justice and engagement, said police had not been consulted about the cuts.

He said: “The loss of those services would mean more opportunities for young people to get involved in crime and antisocial behaviour, so we would oppose their closure.”

Oxford centres set to lose funding include Wood Farm, Headington, Wolvercote and Cutteslowe.

Seven “hubs” would be created across the county, with some youth activity retained in areas judged to have the greatest need, including Blackbird Leys, Barton, Rose Hill and Kidlington.

Youngsters who attend Cutteslowe Community Centre, where 40 children attend youth work sessions, hit out. Michael Bayliss, 11, of Aldrich Road, said: “Our youth worker has changed the lives of a lot of kids in the area.

“I’ve had trouble in the past, but I don’t want to go back to that.

“I know without him, the estate would go back to the way it used to be: bad and horrible.”

Liberty McFarlane, 13, of Wyatt Road, said: “Younger and older ones come here and tell the youth worker their problems.

“Without him, there would be people having underage sex, more underage drinking and more drugs around the area.

“There would be more violence and more windows smashed.”

Liz Edwards, a community worker at Cutteslowe Community Centre, said staff provided vital advice to young people and warned children would not travel to the “hubs”.

She said: “The council should only go ahead if they want to see increases in crime rates, teenage pregnancies, and antisocial behaviour.”

Trustees of Wood Farm Youth Centre, in Titup Hall Drive, said they would need £30,000 a year to keep the 100-member club running without council funding.

Four weekly club sessions, outreach work and trips would be axed, said chairman Richard Bryant.

He added: “It would also undermine the joint work with staff from the local schools, the police, street wardens and the children’s centre.”

The Rev Mark Butchers, who sits on the management committee of the 120-member Wolvercote Young People’s Centre, said: “For 70 years, it has given so much to so many people in terms of somewhere to go, the life skills as they gear up for further education, and help to become responsible citizens.

“It is difficult to think what would happen if that is taken away.”

Support groups for Asperger’s Syndrome sufferers and blind people also use the St Peter’s Road Centre. The council said it was too early to say if they would be affected.

The cuts would save £4.2m a year. Some 20 out of 43 libraries would also lose funding. The council has set aside £200,000 to help volunteers run libraries – but no cash will be available for youth centres.

County council leader Keith Mitchell said: “Closure of youth clubs does not automatically equate to a rise in crime.

“Youngsters are perfectly capable of being responsible young adults who do not indulge in antisocial behaviour with or without youth centres.

“It should be added that we hope parents, schools and volunteers could provide alternative support to that provided by the council.”

lsloan@oxfordmail.co.uk