LINKS, which helps around 200 young people every year, has opened a dedicated centre in Haugh Lane, Hexham. It includes nine fully-furnished bed spaces, offices, and training and employment facilities, including a trades training workshop.

The service provides support for people aged 16 to 30 from all over the district.

Relationship breakdown, abuse and domestic violence are no respecter of social standing Monica Haigh, LINKS coordinator

Regional development agency has provided �313,000 through the Market Towns Initiative, to help get the new development off the ground.

Monica Haigh, LINKS coordinator, said: "There is a commonly held view that homelessness does not occur in affluent areas such as Tynedale.

"However, relationship breakdown, abuse and domestic violence are no respecter of social standing and so there is always a need for organisations like LINKS to support young people who become homeless as a result.

"The group has grown over its 15 years from a youth drop-in centre and coffee bar at the back of a church, to something that offers a life-line to many young people who come from this very rural part of the region.

"Our new centre provides the right kind of environment for young people to find their feet, perhaps benefit from a 'cooling-off' period from parents and talk openly about their issues and hopes for the future."