THE boss of a community centre has said its closure by the council is an overreaction and rejected safeguarding concerns.

At 5am yesterday officers from Adur and Worthing council changed the locks on the Fishersgate Community Centre and took temporary possession of the building, citing "a series of serious, unanswered, safeguarding concerns" and failure to agree on acceptable lease terms.

Tina Favier, head of wellbeing at Worthing and Adur borough council, said a key problem was the association had not provided the council with a safeguarding policy, despite being asked for one repeatedly over the past six months.

She said: "They have been responding but we have not been shown a safeguarding policy; we have not been reassured that they have been considering these issues or taking them seriously."

The row comes after a teenager's 16th birthday party held at the centre in West Road, Fishersgate, got out of control amid underage drinking in March last year, leading to arrests among party-goers.

Peter Averello, chairman of the Fishersgate Community Association (FCA), told The Argus the association did have safeguarding policies in place and that eight out of ten trustees had been DBS checked while two were pending.

He stressed trustees did not work directly with centre users because the association does not run services but hires out the centre.

He said the council had been unclear what it wanted from a safeguarding policy, an accusation the council denies.

Mr Averello added: "I think the closure is a total over-reaction and I think it is going to do what the council wants, which is to frighten people away from using it.

"I think the fact that we have been running as a voluntary community centre and that our numbers have grown up from 10,000 to more than 20,000 proves that we are doing something right."

The council also wants to include a safeguarding clause on the association's lease.

The council plans to install new fire doors, remove temporary fencing and open up access to a forthcoming children's play area over the next four to five weeks while it has temporary possession of the building.

Leader of the council Neil Parkin said the funds for the children's play area had to be spent by April, stressing the timing was coincidental.

The council said it hoped to be in a position to hand the centre back to the FCA once the works are complete and problems sorted out.

NO PROBLEMS SINCE LAST YEAR’S PARTY, SAY NEIGHBOURS

IT was 5am on a frosty February Friday when council officers marched into the Fishersgate Community Centre and padlocked the gates.

Held before dawn to make sure no one was around and there was less chance of confrontation, the take-over went smoothly, unnoticed by most nearby residents in the area next to the River Adur until later in the day.

Soon council posters went up in and around West Road telling residents of the drastic action against a place many knew for fitness sessions, computer classes or a celebration.

Most spoken to by The Argus remembered the rowdy 16th birthday party in March last year when police were called and also a fire in the building’s predecessor in 2005 but were not aware of problems since.

Debbie Etheridge, 49, had her wedding reception there and said she was surprised to hear of its temporary closure, adding “my impression was that everything was all right.”

Ian Eady, 69, said he occasionally heard guitar music drifting towards his flat from that area but couldn’t say whether it was from the centre, adding of the take-over: “I am surprised. In general there is not a lot for young people to do in the area.”

Chris Petty, 60, said: “I hadn’t heard of anything since that event so I think it was sort of managed afterwards. Occasionally we hear a little bit of music but that’s when we have got the windows and doors open. The most people you see there is normally for football training.”

Today though, the centre entered a new rocky phase of its history, with notices posted around the area telling residents: “The council’s actions have not been taken lightly and we have listened to the concerns that you have shared with us. We are unapologetically taking a tough stance on safeguarding issues.”