CLASSICAL music is to be piped into a bus station to encourage young people to conduct themselves better.

Youths have been congregating at a new £4.2m bus station in Stanley, County Durham, and intimidating passengers.

Police are working with Derwentside District Council, which owns the site, and plan to play classical music to make it an "uncool" place to be.

PC Sarah Hindmarsh said: "We want to make it so it is not a cool place for young people to hang out. I have not met one young person from Stanley who is into classical music.

"It is a bus station and not a safe place for young people to play, and we do not want people to get injured."

Since August 1, there have been 36 complaints to police about youth nuisance, and the council agreed to trial the scheme and increase the number of visits from the authority's mobile youth club.

Council leader Alex Watson said: "My concern is that it could attract more people and have the opposite of the desired effect. Music is entertainment and it is like a magnet to people.

"Young people will understand classical music and we should not underrate our young people because they do appreciate it. As many young people watched Come Dancing as the X Factor.

"But I do not think it can do any harm and I will be the first to congratulate them if it is a success."