TEENAGERS and children in the region have been left in limbo after a crucial debate over the future of youth centres came to a deadlock.

Following a two-hour review of controversial plans to privatise the district’s youth centres, members of South Gloucestershire Council's children and young people committee eventually referred the thorny matter to the full council, prolonging youngsters' "agony".

As part of the proposal councillors were to consider three options which would change dramatically the way youth services operate in the area.

Option one, favoured by the Conservative party, would see all 13 centres run by independent groups while the local authority would still provide a subsidy of £520,000 to be split between centres towards positive activities.

Under option two, the council would retain control of centres in its six priority areas-Kingswood, Filton, Staple Hill, Yate, Patchway and Cadbury Heath-while independent providers would run the rest.

Finally option three would divide South Gloucestershire into six cluster wards, five of which would include the priority neighbourhoods and one covering the rural areas.

Each cluster would have its own team of workers based in five centres while a mobile service would be created for rural communities.

At the start of the proceedings held in Chipping Sodbury on Wednesday, July 25, users and staff from Wickwar, Filton, Kingwood and Hanham begged councillors to save their " second homes".

Despite their opposition to the service overhaul, several youth workers and children at the meeting urged members to scrap option one and, if they really had to, to choose between options two and three.

After a long debate option two was adopted by a majority of councillors, all from the Lib Dem and Labour groups. The Conservatives, who favoured option one, asked for the matter to be put to the full council.

They claimed that under option two children not living in priority neighbourhoods, including those in Thornbury, Severn Beach and Winterbourne, would be worse off.

Cllr John Godwin (Con, Winterbourne) said after the meeting that option one was the fairest. "We have another opportunity at the next meeting of all councillors to force a re-think and I would encourage residents to join our fight for fairness," he said.

Labour councillor for Woodstock, Gareth Manson, said that postponing the important decision was just prolonging young people’s agony.

He said: "We will continue to fight against the wholesale outsourcing of our youth centres."

Councillors, however, agreed to keep funding the six Sure Start Centres located in priority neighbourhoods and look into privatising the remaining nine. They also opted to create an integrated family solutions service.