YOUNG and old in Prudhoe have united to denounce the sudden sale of their beloved youth centre.

The decision to put the East Centre on the market came out of the blue for the community. Even staff at the 52-year-old youth centre were left in the dark about the move.

The news hit the town last week after Prudhoe Town Council was emailed ‘as a courtesy’ by the county council’s strategic estates department.

Town councillor George McCreedy managed the centre from 1979 until his retirement in 2008 and contacted centre staff with the news.

“There was no consultation,” he said. “The staff didn’t even know. It’s absolutely appalling. The East Centre is a fantastic facility and we’re now asking questions about this decision.”

Prudhoe Town Council is now seeking a meeting with county council officers.

Town mayor, Coun. Jennifer McGee, said: “The town council is a stakeholder. We give the centre a substantial amount in grant aid annually and have done for years. There’s been no consultation. It’s absolutely disgraceful. The fact that staff didn’t know is beyond the pale.”

Fifteen-year-old Brooke Salloway has been attending the East Centre for seven years and has launched a campaign to save the centre.

Brooke said: “Most of my friends at school go to the centre. There’s nowhere else for young people to go except on the streets and then police say we’re causing distress.”

Defending the move, Northumberland County Council said that the East Centre was no longer fit for purpose.

A spokesman said: “It is not intended that the service being provided will change, but that it will be provided from a much better building.”

Prudhoe county councillor Tony Reid added: “The Fuse is an attractive building, but I don’t think it’s the right location on the periphery of the town.

“The decision was made unsatisfactorily. Officers should have made greater effort to contact the community.”