Silsden teenagers campaigning for a skate park have promised to raise all the money themselves.

And they have pledged to try to stop vandalism and damage caused to the town's memorial gardens by youths playing there.

Lindsay Bottomley, 15, and James Jackson, 17, attended last Thursday's Silsden Town Council meeting to show members their plans for the skate park, and how it might improve the town by giving the youngsters somewhere to go in the evenings.

The two teenagers are members of a newly formed youth council looking at this and other issues that affect young people in the town.

Lindsay said: "There is very little to do around Silsden for people our age. I think it would benefit the whole town. It would promote tourism, reduce boredom and anti-social behaviour and some slight crime.

"The idea of the park has already brought different sections of the community together, skate-boarders and bikers."

She said that giving the youngsters somewhere to go would mean that the memorial gardens in the centre of the town, currently a popular place for youths to congregate, would not be damaged so much.

James produced a sketch drawing of his own designs for the skate park - which would involve a mixture of equipment to be used by trail bike riders, skateboarders and in-line skaters.

The drawings were complemented by a professional design, and members estimated the total cost of the project would be around £50,000.

The youth council intends to approach local businesses for grants, as well as fundraising themselves.

They would like to see a tennis-court sized site, preferably in the park and Silsden town councillors said that this would get their support.

Members unanimously agreed to support the youth council's project, and mayor Alan Edwards said the council would provide them with as much help as they needed.

But Coun Lawrence Walton said they wanted something in return. "As a show of faith to the people of Silsden, will you stop playing in the memorial gardens, all of you? That's what people see and you all get labelled with the same brush. You will get a lot more support from people around here if you do," he said.

Lindsay agreed to do her best and pass the comments onto the other teenagers.

District Councillor David Emmott said he would also give the youth council as much advice as he could about obtaining funding, and suggested that they started small and then added equipment as they went along.