A lack of youth centres in Southend is leaving teenagers on the street to be picked up by gangs.

Residents have criticised the closure of sites such as Focus Youth Centre, which was demolished to make way for a car park several years ago.

Mum-of-three Alexandra Waite, of Queensway, Southend, spoke out at the meeting, claiming young people had been left with no other option but to take to the streets.

She founded youth foundation Get the Kids Out, with her husband Dominic in 2014.

The foundation aimed to make days out during the school holidays affordable for families on a tight budget.

After achieving great success with trips to theme parks and theatres, Ms Waite decided to also set her sights on Get the Kids In, which is focused on giving young people somewhere to go after school where they can express their creativity and, most importantly, find purpose in a youth programme away from the streets.

She said: “Young people need somewhere to go after school, free of charge, where they can be with friends - but we desperately need funding to help kids stay away from the streets.

“I think young people are very well educated in Southend, and I think policing is adequate in Southend.

“I think the issue comes from the fact young people have nowhere to go after school, which is free of charge, where they can be creative, be themselves, and just go to be young people.

On June 2, Ms Waite will be hosting a festival march from Southend to Garon Park to support the Get the Kids In initiative, raising awareness around the issues that can lead to young people becoming involved in gang culture and knife crime.

The day will also feature motivation speakers who have been previously affected by or involved in knife crime and gun crime, to speak about how it has affected their lives, and how they found a way out.

Ms Waite said: “We don’t believe that we are going to stop knife crime,but we do believe that prevention is the cure.

“And if we can do one thing to maybe change one person’s life then we feel like we’ve achieved something.”