Teenagers could be given their own "village" away from a town centre where they can hang out and play sport.

It would consist of a basketball court with clusters of huts to give youngsters their own space so they do not have to gather in town centre streets.

An application for the teenage village had been submitted to Wealden District Council by the Hailsham East Community Trust and would be built on the Maurice Thornton playing fields, Marshfoot Lane.

The five huts will be at each end of the court, linked by a series of paths and surrounded by landscaped trees and a boundary rail.

The trust wants the village to provide a centralised meeting area for the teenagers of the town and provide them with more leisure facilities. The money to build it has come from the Government's Single Regeneration Budget.

Community trust trustee Steve Murphy said: "It is a new concept for teenagers to have their own space.

"It will not be formally supervised but is close to housing and the community centre.

"It is going to be a community asset. People have written objections but the village is an unknown venture. If everyone looks at the wider view they will see it benefits the community greatly."

The plans had met with resistance from the town council over the location and size of the structures.

Wealden District Council had also received seven letters of complaint from residents living near the playing fields raising concerns over noise, security and possible loutish behaviour.

One resident from Phoenix Close, close to the proposed site, who declined to be named, said: "They have concentrated their efforts and money on the teenagers but they don't think about the older people.

"I've had kids hanging about outside here before and we don't like going out if they're around. This is going to make the problems worse."

Senior planning officer for Wealden District Council Patrick Coffey said the description of the plans as a village had caused some worries among residents but it would be limited to an end of the playing field rarely used.

The application was approved by the district council's development control sub-committee yesterday.