TEENAGERS have taken over an old council highway depot in Faringdon.

A group of eight young people designed the colourful new youth centre, at the Cromwell Centre, in Highworth Road, which was officially opened by Lord Faringdon last month.

Youth worker Susan Wood, said: “It has been quite a journey. I’ve only joined at the end but it’s really exciting.

“We’ve already been running sessions for a couple of weeks and the young people here are bursting with ideas about plans for the future.”

Ollie Williams, 16, is the technical adviser on the committee for the youth centre.

He said: “Faringdon is the third most deprived town in Oxfordshire and from a child’s perspective there was nothing to do.

“If I lived somewhere remote, I would get used to that but in Faringdon there are shops, buses and lots of houses, but still nothing to do. The centre has changed that.”

The town’s county councillor, Judith Heathcoat, said: “This centre will be envied by many and I must pay tribute to the imaginative thinking of our county council officers who have negotiated this project.”

The £200,000 project was part-funded by developer contributions secured by the council from housing developments in the town, in particular Bloor Homes’ development off Park Road.

Regional managing director Adrian Bloor said: “We’re pleased to be making such a positive contribution to the needs of Faringdon.”

The centre is open from 6.30-8.30pm on Tuesdays and 7-9pm on Fridays.