Tuesday 2 October 2007

NYTHE/Wiltshire: Dispersal orders tackle yobs

Dispersal orders tackle yobs

Two new orders to stop yobs congregating could cut down on noise, vandalism and violence say police.

The areas around Eldene Community Centre and Tyneham Road, in Nythe, are now no-go zones for groups of youngsters who have been making life hell for residents.

The six-month orders came into force yesterday and ban all forms of anti-social behaviour, including drinking and riding around on mini motos and in cars late at night.

Police Community Support Officers Sandra Hughes and Tom Fryszka spoke with shopkeepers and members of the public in Eldene and Nythe to tell them that the dispersal orders were in force.

Speaking about the anti-social behaviour in Eldene, PCSO Hughes said: "We can have as many as two calls an evening and even more at the weekends from residents who are fed up by all the trouble.

"Sometime there have been 40 kids causing a nuisance and other times it can be a group of about five.

"We have been called out to reports of drunken kids causing criminal damage to the community centre, getting into the school and of them urinating in the pond.

"Everyone I have spoken to today is happy this order has been brought in because it shows that we are taking the issue seriously and taking things forward."

The police have blamed a gang culture for many of the incidents in Eldene and Nythe with many incidents taking place well into the night.

PCSO Fryszka said: "The incidents can take place any time between 4.30pm and 5.30pm when they finish school to three or four in the morning.

"There are a few people in the upstairs flats above the shops in Eldene who have been forced to sleep in the hallway because youngsters are climbing up on to their balconies.

"There is a lot of rivalry between two groups of youths in this area and there is a bit of a gang culture.

"If two youths or more congregate within the dispersal order areas in Eldene and Nythe we can disperse them and if they return within 24 hours they can be arrested.

"In Tyneham Road we have had kids riding up and down the road on mini motos, mopeds and cars and we do now have the power to give them an order, which can result in us seizing their vehicles.

"Hopefully both orders will act as a deterrent."

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/display.var.1727596.0.dispersal_orders_tackle_yobs.php

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