A councillor who suspended a popular Friday night youth club in Wantage has agreed to hold a crunch meeting with community leaders on Friday.

Louise Chapman, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for children, young people and families, said she had to yet to decide what should happen to Sweatbox in the long term, but was proposing to hold a test evening, including music and “probably” licensed security staff on the doors. If it proved successful, she said she would reintroduce the youth club permanently.

Her decision comes after she was criticised by parents, young people and staff at a public meeting last week at King Alfred Community and Sports College’s Springfield Drive campus, where the youth centre is based.

Sweatbox manager Garry Kingett temporarily closed the centre in December, saying children as young as 12 were turning up “absolutely bladdered”. He had planned to reopen it on February 26, with random breathalyser tests to crack down on alcohol abuse.

However, county council chiefs halted the reopening, saying the new measures would be against council policy.

At an emergency meeting last Wednesday, about 100 parents criticised Ms Chapman’s suspension of the reopening, which would have included a zero-tolerance alcohol policy. They said without Sweatbox running youth events, teenagers would get drunk in local parks and engage in antisocial behaviour.

One parent said: “I would rather my daughter have a breath test than be rung up and told she had been admitted to the John Radcliffe Hospital drunk.”

The review of safety at Sweatbox is due to completed by the end of April, with the trial reopening due in the coming weeks.

Ms Chapman said: “I’m hoping that this test evening will be the start of a new era for the centre.

“Obviously, when a youth worker says the night is not safe to go ahead without things such as breathalyser tests then it makes you concerned, so the event has been suspended while a review takes place.

“On Friday I will meet with the centre, the school, police and the local community. We will agree when a tester evening will go ahead, which I will attend to witness the issues for myself.”

District council ward member for Wantage, Jenny Hannaby, said: “I think it’s an excellent idea that Louise comes down so she can see for herself how this event is successful. We need to get the centre up and running as soon as possible and until it does we will be faced with the question of whether we will see more antisocial behaviour in our parks on a Friday night.”