Broken boiler at Bognor Regis' 39 Youth Club is to be repaired

The clapped-out heating equipment used by the 39 Youth Club will be restored to working order before the cold weather begins thanks to the Observer.

The newspaper's intervention came after the youth club's management committee chairman, Brian Ansell, warned it might have to quit its well-known building in the town centre.

He said: "It's good news the county council is living up to its responsibility. About two years ago, the council were aware two of the three heating boilers on the premises at the premises which they own.

"Now they have been condemned and cannot be used this coming winter.

"The cost of replacement is - I think - 11,000. We cannot afford such costs and will be forced to consider leaving the premises all together and giving our resources to a charity with a similar object to our own."

A county council spokesman said: "The boilers will be repaired and our property services people are making the arrangements."

No date had yet been set for the work to be carried out.

But Mr Ansell warned the 39 Youth Club could still be at risk from the county council's 2m-plus cutbacks in its youth service annual budget.

The club is run as a charity in the county council-owned neighbourhood youth centre off Church Path, Glamis Street.

But the club rents part of its premises to the company which runs the county careers service.

Mr Ansell claimed this rent was too little to cover the costs of the space. A decision would soon need to be made by the management committee about asking the tenant to leave.

"If we did that, the county council might ask us to quit as well," he said.

"It's a very messy situation but we could just decide the best thing for the youth club would be to leave our current building and find another charity that is serving young people to give our resources to.

"That would be an incredibly sad thing to happen because the club has been here for about 50 years and seems to have played a part in the lives of everyone that I speak to about it."

County councillor Francis Oppler, whose ward includes the club, said: "I will be doing everything I can by asking questions at the county council to ensure the club has a future. I want to ensure it is here for another 50 years.

"I am totally dismayed by the situation at the 39 Youth Club. It has been such an important part in the fabric of our town and its young peoples' lives for so long.

"The county council can't wriggle out of this situation. They chose last January to cut the youth service budget."