THOUSANDS of pounds are needed to deal with anti social behaviour problems at a disused scout hut at St John's Churchyard in Belper.
Residents living close to the hut on St John's Road claim their lives have been made a misery by rowdy youths using the hut as a hangout.
Belper town councillors are also keen to see something done as the council office is based at St John's Chape
l and has been vandalised on a number of occasions.
Following discussions between the council, police and owners of the land around St Peter's Church it now looks likely that a fence will be erected to block off the site - at a cost of £2,000.
Church warden Jonathan Tillen said: "We want to go ahead with the fence if we get the funding. We can't afford to knock the building down. The fence would be a stop gap but would mean spending £2,000 on something that's going to get pulled down - it's a lot of money to find but we are progressing."
The idea to fence the hut off came after a crime prevention survey carried out by the police which suggested the scout hut should be knocked down or made secure with a weld mesh fence.
The church will have to apply for funding in order to meet the cost of the fence.
A number of people were consulted on ways of preventing the problems at the hut and Amber Valley Borough Council are considering designating the church car park as a no drinking zone.
There were previously concerns that this would not be possible as the land is privately owned but the borough council have said the restrictions can be extended to the car park.
