Published: Friday, 29th August, 2008 8:35am

Cafe"s new lease of life

A YOUTH cafe aimed at curbing under-age drinking had been so successful that East Lothian Council has pledged to continue funding for at least a further three months

And police and community workers are hopeful that if the project continues to prove its worth, it could become a permanent feature on the town"s High Street.

In July, the office of former MSP John Home Robertson was transformed into a multi-purpose youth facility called "The Office".

Teenagers loitering on street corners with nothing to do were invited to try out console games, air hockey table, hot refreshments and comfortable bean bag seating provided there.

The youth cafe had been expected to wind up at the end of August, at the start of the new school term, but has now been extended to November.

Head of community policing for Haddington, Dunbar and North Berwick, Inspector Sean Scott, said: 'There has been a discernible drop in the number of nuisance and anti-social behaviour calls that we would receive at this time of the year.

'One of our priorities is to engage more with youth. If you think about how many of our daily calls are taken up with youth problems, it makes sense to do so.

'We are definitely promoting youth facilities and also trying to get youths involved in other initiatives like the Community and Police Partnership (CAPP) forum.'

East Lothian community development officer, Jo McNamara - a key figure in setting up The Office - said the cafe had been successful, catering for an average of 20 youngsters per night over the last two months.

'We do not say "If you have been drinking never darken our door", because it is safer that young people know they have somewhere to go if they feel unwell or have found themselves in a spot of trouble,' said Mrs McNamara.

With a long-term lease on the High Street premises, youth workers believe they could make a 'tremendous' impact on the town"s youth problems.

'It would take a lot of the pressure off ourselves in terms of rents and overheads and also the police,' added Mrs McNamara.

Given the anticipated drop in numbers during term time, the cafe will, in future, open on Friday nights only - it has previously been running for three nights per week.