PLYMPTON: RESIDENTS IN ANTI-YOB VIGIL

RESIDENTS IN ANTI-YOB VIGIL

Frustrated residents are to mount a night-time vigil to deter rowdy yobs who wreck a children's play park.Householders in Plympton are so fed up that they hope to discourage the beer-swilling teenagers from congregating, fighting in the street and leaving piles of broken glass around the play equipment.

Four or five men and women who live in Litchaton Way in Woodford say they will try and deter the youths by sitting in the park at night - unless the police can stop the youngsters' bad behaviour.

One mother whose daughter uses the play park said: "It is very frustrating but if the authorities cannot deal with the problem then we are prepared to do something about it.

"I would readily be prepared to do it."

But police today said that the plan was 'almost vigilantism' and urged residents to work with the force.

Householders said that up to 20 youths aged from around 11 to 20 gathered in the park most weekends and through the week during the school summer holidays. They claim they stay into the park until the early hours of the morning.

They complained of noise, bad language and fighting in the street.

The final straw came on Friday night when yobs left the park between the methodist church and junior school strewn with broken glass from smashed beer bottles.

One resident cleared up the glass herself, filling half a bin bag with glass.

Former police officer, Ian Markus, 63, who came up with the idea, said: "The neighbours have had enough. They are constantly calling the police. It seems to be a constant occurrence, every Friday or Saturday.

"I had the idea in the heat of the moment, but several of the neighbours are prepared to do it.

"We cannot stop the youngsters coming into the park but we might be able to stop them drinking and getting rowdy if we are standing there.

"We are not vigilantes. We are not out for any trouble and don't want any confrontations. We just want them to stop."

The mother, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, added: "The police came two or three times in the summer and took away the alcohol but the yobs just come back another day."

Sgt Dave Gordon, responsible for Plympton, said he was aware of problems of rowdiness and under-age drinking in the play area, but said it was no worse than several other parks.

He added: "It is a park and that is where kids congregate but we take a fairly robust approach and we confiscate alcohol where we find underage drinking and move them on. I really would not want them in there. It is almost vigilantism.

"We could possibly work with the residents and support them with some sort of operation in the play area."

Sgt Gordon said he would send a patrol to the park over the weekend if other incidents allowed.

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