Sir.-Last Saturday evening, the Basingstoke Ex-Services Club threw its doors open to the local younger generation to enable them to have an evening of punk and goth.

The committee had been approached by three teenagers who asked if they could use the club's hall to promote a number of local bands.

The committee questioned the youngsters at length about how they would ensure no under-age drinking or vandalism would happen and eventually agreed to give them a one-night trial.

So Saturday evening arrived and all the committee were on duty, as we had no idea what to expect.

Firstly, I think we were all surprised by how well the youngsters had organised themselves. They knew that the hall could hold 110 people so they had a book of raffle tickets and, as each person entered, they tore a ticket out - simple but effective. To deter under-age drinking they asked for proof of age. If someone could not supply it, they were tagged as being under 18.

By 8pm the hall was full and the promoters were turning people away. Those being turned away accepted it with good grace, and no arguments - just the comment: "We will get here earlier next time."

Members of the committee patrolled the hall on a regular basis during the evening, and, apart from having to ask one or two individuals not to stand on the seats, no problems were encountered.

At the end of the evening, it took a couple of committee men about 10 minutes to pick up the discarded plastic glasses and rearrange the furniture - less time than some normal Saturday evenings.

All our concerns were unfounded as the audience departed by 11.15pm, having had a great night of entertainment, without any trouble, and respecting local residents' privacy.

I would like to thank the promoters, who I believe astounded us all by their organisational abilities, the audience for being so well-behaved and polite to the older members of the club, and my fellow committee members for having the courage to let the younger generation have a gig in our hall.

It was a positive display of youngsters enjoying themselves without having to resort to unacceptable behaviour.

-Michael R Budge, committee member, Basingstoke Ex-Services Club.