CRIME busting youngsters in Little Hulton have formed a ground breaking action group to tackle the problem in their neighbourhood.

And next Friday, the schoolchildren, aged 12 and 13, from Little Hulton Community School will meet the Mayor of Salford, Cllr Barry Warner and six local councillors, to discuss the way forward.

The project is the first of its kind in Little Hulton and the youngsters will be given the opportunity to discuss the way forward for a safer community.

The meeting with councillors coincides with Youth work Week which this year has the theme 'democracy'. In addition to discussing crime-busting initiatives, the children will be shown how decisions are made and discussed.

Deputy head Steve Barlow and Safer Salford's Angela Stewart encouraged the initiative after it was revealed that children and young adults do not view themselves as an influential part of the community.

Youth and Family Support - a Little Hulton and Farnworth Partnership initiative - and Safer Salford, have each pledged £1,000 to be used by the group to improve security for vulnerable families and individuals in Little Hulton by purchasing security items such as window locks, door chains and garden shed alarms.

The group initially attended a series of workshops on the theme of community development, and members are now consulting residents' associations and Salford's community safety officer David Boardman about the best way to spend the money.

Carole Foster, development worker at Youth and Family Support, said: "Bringing together a range of age groups to tackle social problems such as crime eliminates exclusion and knits a community together.

"The young people are very keen for this project to succeed. They now understand that they have the power to make a difference within their community, especially by working in partnership with adults, who I think will have learned something by this too."

The group will now monitor distribution of security devices and check published crime figures to see if their strategies have worked or could be improved upon.

PC David Boardman said: "The ideas they have come up with for reducing crime and graffiti have been practical and imaginative and I hope this group becomes a permanent voice for this community."