A group of volunteers are worried that youth crime will escalate in Newcastle’s CBD this summer.

Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-op volun-teers used to drive a mini bus and pick up kids from Newcastle’s inner city streets and take them home on Friday and Saturday nights.

The youth patrol would pick up indigenous and non-indigenous youth between eight and 18 years old who were roaming the streets to stop them from either committing a crime or being a victim of crime.

It had picked up the kids roaming the city’s streets for seven years, but in January, funding from the NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General for this free community service ran out.

Awabakal Co-op then funded the service itself until April, but ran out of funds and is now waiting on a review from the department to see if it will receive funds to continue the service, which could deliver up to 40 kids a night home safely.

Volunteer driver Barry Kensell said he was disappointed the review was taking so long.

“It was meant to take six months, but it’s been more than that and we are still waiting,” he said.

“We are worried for the kids, we haven’t been able to do anything because we don’t have money for the running costs.”

Mr Kensell said the service was important for the safety of the kids.

“We make sure we get the kids home.

“We pick up kids who might get in trouble with the law and it stops them from bashings and vandalising property.”

Mr Kensell said he hoped the co-op received funding soon to start the service again because the warmer weather brought more people out at night times.

Newcastle Police inspector Kirren Steele said police relied heavily on the youth patrol on Friday and Saturday nights, when the most trouble occurred.

Inspector Steele said since the bus stopped there was an increase in juveniles in town.

She said police used to phone the youth patrol to come and pick the kids up officers found in town.

“Having the bus back on the road would alleviate our police workload by transporting juveniles that may be at risk out of the CBD and home safely”, she said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Attorney General said the department had received a request for further funding of youth patrol and would be in contact with the co-op if its request was successful.

The spokesperson did not say when the review would be finished.