Nuisance youths in police sights

TROUBLE-CAUSING youngsters will be targeted by high-profile police patrols over the Easter holidays.

Officers will visit hotspot areas such as parks, takeaways and town centres to stop young people hanging around and misbehaving.

Instead, they will be encouraged to take part in activities such as art and crafts and sports.

In Oldham, Operation Staysafe will run to steer youngsters away from trouble and towards a Youth Bus and sports activities.

In some areas CCTV will be installed to catch youngsters in the act and officers will wear head cams while on the beat.

Parents will then be shown footage of their child misbehaving so they can take appropriate action.

There will also be visits to pubs, bars and clubs, test purchasing at off-licences and supermarkets and any youngsters found with alcohol will have it confiscated.

Assistant Chief Con Garry Shewan, GMP’s lead on anti-social behaviour, said: “Anti-social behaviour really affects people’s quality of life.

“Over the Easter holidays, there will be no excuse for young people to hang around on the streets as there are lots of activities for them to do.

“The bank holiday weekend provides a well-deserved rest for many people and I want to reassure residents that the police and partner agencies will be working together to tackle any anti-social behaviour problems.

“However, we need parents to take responsibility for their children’s actions and know where their children are and what they are doing.”