A community centre is applying for £100,000 in funding to provide an Oxford estate with much needed IT facilities.

The Northway Community Centre wants to raise funding to set up a new IT services for the estate. It comes following the closure of the IT Hub in Westlands Drive, Northway.

Graham Bellinger, secretary of the community centre in Dora Carr Close, said: "We will be targeting after-school clubs for kids who do not have access to computers at home. It will be a place for them to do their homework on or to research things on the Internet.

"We also have senior citizens, who have never had exposure to computers before, who will be able to come here and get familiar with them and learn how to use them."

Mr Bellinger said the loss of the former IT Hub in May last year due to lack of funding had deprived the area of facilities that were essential for estates such as Northway. He said: "There are not many jobs that do not involve using computers these days and it's important that people have somewhere to develop these skills if they can't do it at home.

"This is also part of our drive to become more involved with the local community and offer more services for residents."

Stan Sage, 73, who organises a Wednesday lunch club at the community centre for pensioners, said he would be interested in using the facilities if the funding came through.

Mr Sage, of Stockleys Road, Northway, said: "I depend on my son for help with this sort of thing and it would be nice to have a broader knowledge of computers.

"And I'm sure there would be others interested in learning more."

The community centre has already successfully applied to Oxford City Council for permission to extend its premises and improve disabled access to the site. It now hopes the council will fund the IT equipment.

Northway councillor Altaf Khan said he would back the application.

He said: "Not everyone can afford to have a computer or pay for broadband Internet access at home.

"This will be of great benefit to those people and for older people who want to learn new skills."

David Rundle, the council's executive member for community centres, said he would have to examine the proposal before any decision could be made.

But he added: "I feel it's a really worthy project, which is going from strength to strength and we would want to support them with that."