DISRUPTIVE youths have been encouraged to kick the antisocial behaviour habit by taking to the football pitch.

Youth outreach workers in Bourne End have got young people to get off the streets and take up the beautiful game instead.

The workers claim the initiative has seen reported incidents of graffiti, litter and aggressive behaviour go down.

Since the end of March, Stella Voaden and her team of part-time youth workers have struck up relationships with rowdy teenagers as well as other young people in Bourne End and Wooburn Green.

She says she has made them more sensitive to the needs of other residents and reduced incidents of anti-social behaviour.

At a meeting of the Wooburn and Bourne End Parish Council on Tuesday Ms Voaden said: "We tracked down lots of different areas where young people hang out and have spoken to about 80 young people between the ages of 13 and 17 who we met on the streets.

"We have persuaded them to come and kick a football around in Wooburn Manor Park and it seems to be having a ripple effect. At first we had 20 or so people, now there are 27 and another 20 come to watch."

The teenagers' first official fixture is on June 27 between Wooburn Boys and the Princes Risborough Youth Club.

Ms Voaden's team will now concentrate on Waterman Road, Glory Mill Lane, Holtspur Avenue, Watery Lane and Barley Fields, in Wooburn Green.

Meanwhile, the youth workers have also encouraged young people in Blind Lane Park to produce "stunning" pieces of artwork at outdoor art workshops.

Cllr Mike Appleyard, parish council chairman, said it was very encouraging news.

He agreed to look seriously at providing a skate park for young people, in an effort to take on board the comments of youths who said the council invested in facilities for young children, but not for the 1,400 teenagers that are living in the district.