WOOD GREEN / LONDON: Police message to yobs: You're not welcome

Police message to yobs: You're not welcome

COUNCILLOR Nilgun Canver checks out the police’s CCTV van

POLICE have cracked down on yobs who make life a nightmare for shoppers and residents in Wood Green and issued a blunt warning to them: "You're not welcome."

Chief Inspector Wayne Mawson, based in Wood Green, has made it clear that police are determined to make the shopping district safer.

Wood Green hit the headlines earlier this year following a series of violent incidents, the most serious of which saw a 37-year-old beaten unconscious while being filmed by onlookers.

Since then officers have made their presence felt in the area - often parking the CCTV surveillance van in the middle of Spouters' Corner.

Chief Inspector Mawson said: "My message to anybody thinking about returning to this area to cause trouble is this: don't bother, you're not welcome, if you commit crime, expect to be arrested."

He described Wood Green as the main hotspot for the borough but said since they had upped their presence there crime was down by 50 per cent.

"People in this area were getting fed up," he explains.

"Statistics are great but for me, more important is customer feedback. The feedback about this is wonderful."

Chief Inspector Mawson says the police can't get complacent and adds that they are also taking on the known gangs who operate in the area.