Children, parents and even the town’s mayor were on hand this week to celebrate the official unveiling on a new youth shelter.

The £10,000 shelter, including a solar powered radio and wireless MP3 player, was donated to the borough council by Watford based Monster Play Systems, a company which sells the units nationwide.

It was formally unveiled by Mayor Dorothy Thornhill on Wednesday afternoon, who cut the ceremonial ribbon in the Goodwood Recreation Ground, in Minerva Drive.

Monster sales director Marco Boi explained: “We wanted to do something as a company to help out local children and give something back to the community.

“When we heard that everybody wanted a youth shelter down here we were happy to help.”

PC Helen Dellera explained why the shelter was needed. She said: “We did have a few problems in this area with anti-social behaviour so we made a point of asking young people what it was they wanted and they said they wanted a youth shelter.

“We looked into buying one and found out about Monster. Sadly we didn’t have the £10,000 to spend on it so we were thrilled when the company said they would do it for free. The shelter has been here for a few weeks and we have already noticed a difference.”

Mayor Thornhill added: “This is a great facility and we owe a big thank you to Monster.”

Monster Play Systems, based in Sandown Road, Watford, will continue to pay for any renovations in future years.