A JUICE bar created as a hang-out place for 14 to 17-year-olds has been set up in Marske.

The bar gives teenagers an area to chat, listen to music and buy non-alcoholic drinks in a room above the Zetland Hotel, in Markse High Street.

Entrance to the bar will be by membership only and two adult volunteers will be on hand to keep a check on the youngsters.

The initiative was set up by the Markse Town Centre Partnership, which has been working with local agencies on ways to solve anti-social behaviour problems.

A questionaire was sent to young people and youth forums set up for the youngsters to say what facilities they wanted.

Councillor Mike Findley, of the partnership, said: "We've been working on this for ages.

"But now, thanks to the manager of the Zetland House, Graham Allsopp, a group of young people, plus six police-checked volunteers, we have been able to launch the Top House Juice Bar.

"If it's a success and the kids are being responsible, it may go to more than two nights a week. But if things don't turn out right, it will have to close. It's up to them."

Daniel Wilkinson, 16, from New Marske, who has been involved in the initiative, said: "It'll mean that we have somewhere to go rather than getting complaints from neighbours or the police for playing football and being too loud.

"Hopefully people won't want to cause trouble because they'll see the good side of it.

"We just have to prove that we can be trusted to do something like this and that we're not just a problem."

The bar, which can accommodate 60 youngsters, will be open on Tuesdays and Fridays.