PARENTS of bored youngsters in Pool-in-Wharfedale are being urged to rise up and claim a derelict piece of land at the edge of their village.

At a public meeting in the village hall, more than 20 youngsters told members of the Pool 2020 community group that there was nothing for them to do in Pool and that the village offered no facilities for them.

The youngsters said that they would like a small skateboard park to help alleviate boredom.

Pool 2020 chairman Bernard Mitchinson said that he had written to community and sporting organisations in Pool about the youngsters' requests - but in the meantime has urged parents to take more radical action by taking over the playground of the former Pool School.

He said: "Parents need to take the initiative in the short term and if necessary, take over and occupy the playground until something more definite can be sorted out.

"It is a little rundown and overgrown, but ideal for what they want. Anything more substantial is going to take time and the youngsters need action now. Parents need to help themselves and if they feel as strongly as their children on this subject, they will do something now.

"Children have been on the agenda in Pool for some time but they are always at the bottom of the list."

Mr Mitchinson added that an elderly man approached some youngsters last week after he saw them throwing stones at his car - but instead of being abusive, the youngsters told him about their frustrations over the lack of facilities.

"He was so impressed by how eloquent they were, he came to us and we organised a meeting. I was amazed. They are a fine bunch of kids who are desperately short of amenities."

The old school has been at the centre of an ownership wrangle between Leeds City Council and the Ripon Diocese but is due to be put on the open market shortly. A planning brief in 1997 earmarked the property as ideal for a residential home.