CUTS in youth provision by Devon County Council are not going to be as savage as first thought, and The Junction youth club at the Newton Abbot Leisure Centre will be saved and become the hub for youth services in the Teignbridge district.

Next Wednesday, the county council cabinet will say that instead of original proposals to cull all 32 youth centres across the county, there should be a youth centre hub in each of the eight districts.

In a statement a county council spokesman said there had been a considerable amount of opposition to the original proposals at the consultation meetings.

'The hubs will offer some universal access as well as giving the target work for most vulnerable children and people.

'Originally we were going down to 30 jobs, but now 54 jobs in the youth service are being retained. There will be more of these experienced workers to offer support to those community and voluntary groups that we have appealed to help run youth clubs in their own communities,' he said.

Cllr James McInnes, the cabinet member for youth, said the council had listened to the consultations and decided to create the eight hubs.

He said the council had to reduce its budget by £110 million by 2017 and the youth service had to play its part in the savings. Cllr McInnes added that already more than 100 volunteers had come forward and expressed an interest in helping keep youth clubs open and it was hoped a high proportion of them would also remain. One youth club organiser who did not want to be named said the change in policy by the county council was a hard-earned victory for the thousands of members of the public, hundreds of youth activists and dozens of youth workers who had been critical of the original proposal to close them all.

'The dedication and commitment of campaigners across Devon illustrates the extent to which people are willing to go when the livelihood, identity and family of 12,500 Devonian young people is threatened.

'We hope that we have made it clear to the council that it is a very detrimental idea to make a decision against expert advice and the needs of service-users,' she said.