YOUNGSTERS in Middlewich will be the envy of other towns when they see the opening of a new facility early in May.

The Microchips Project in Wheelock Street is nearly ready to open with the last bits of furniture and equipment being moved in.

It comes after a lot of hard work from Reverend David Moore and other volunteers and has been funded by the Middlewich Christian Fellowship, the National Lottery and other agencies.

When it opens its doors, on May 9, Microchips will offer computers to surf the net, a coffee bar and a youth information centre.

Arguably the best feature is a youth lounge, where youngsters can watch big screen satellite television, play on Playstation 2 games consoles, watch DVDs, have a game of pool and just sit around and relax in a stylish environment.

It will be open between 10am and 8pm most days and has 12 staff members.

Microchips manager Kris Morris said: "We don't want to force them into doing anything they don't want to.

"We want to give them a space where they can do the sort of things they like.

"I come from Australia and I've never seen anything this cool before and it's a great resource for the kids and the people of Middlewich in general."

There are a number of membership schemes on offer including a silver membership for £7 a year and a gold membership for £20 a year, which works out better value in the long run.

Youngsters whose parents have limited means are entitled to free membership.

The community in general can also use the computer facilities for a nominal fee with concessions for pensioners and the unemployed.

Parents need to give consent for children under-16 to join and the centre stresses that everything possible is done to protect children from seeing offensive material on the web.

For more information about Microchips please ring 01606 835579.

jpowell@guardiangrp.co.uk