NEWENT Youth Centre, which was threatened with closure last year, could be rescued for the benefit of the community.

Hundreds of people attached to a host of groups, from the army cadets to Cub Scouts, use the Ross Road centre.

Last year, Gloucestershire County Council was considering closing and selling the building, which would have left the community groups homeless.

The plan was frozen by the Con-servative administration installed at Shire Hall after the election.

Now Newent Millennium Trust is looking at taking the building on from the county council and has applied to the South West Regional Development Agency for funds for a feasibility study.

Mayor Fred Passant, one of the trustees, said: "I must say how much it has developed as an asset for the community and it must be maintained as such."

If the trust decides to take on the youth centre, grants will be sought to pay for the building. Coun Passant said he did not yet know how much would be required.

The trust developed and now runs the arboretum for the town council. The youth caf in Broad Street is also owned and run by the trust, which also manages the trees around Newent Lake.

Coun Passant revealed that another Gloucestershire County Council plan, to build a day centre behind the library for adults with learning difficulties, had also been shelved.

He said that a private developer was considering building the day centre for the county council elsewhere in the town centre.

He refused to be drawn on the location but said the move would mean that the library and health centre car park could be improved for public use.

He said: "We need to talk to both the district and county councils in a bid to make it an effective town centre car park for Newent, which we badly need."