Crackdown continues on town centre louts (From Craven Herald)

Crackdown continues on town centre louts

7:10am Friday 25th August 2006 in News By Jenny Speak

POLICE are ploughing ahead with their campaign to clamp down on groups of menacing youths who gather on Skipton's streets.

Officers have undertaken a two-month review of the town's dispersal order and decided it should stay in place.

The order covers the town centre from Holy Trinity churchyard to Upper Union Street and from the railway station across to the junction of Newmarket Street with Brougham Street.

Any groups suspected of being a nuisance within this area can be ordered to leave. If they return within 24 hours they can be arrested and ultimately fined up to £2,500 and/or jailed for up to three months.

Officers have the powers to take home anyone breaking the order.

Since the dispersal order was brought in on June 16 it has been used 14 times, with more than 30 people being sent on their way.

Officers used it five times last weekend, with the problems ranging from anti-social behaviour to youths chasing a young female.

Two men have been arrested for allegedly breaching the dispersal order and have been bailed to appear before Skipton Magistrates' Court at a future date.

Sergeant Kevin Wilson, from Skipton police, said in the two-month run-up to the order being introduced, more than 300 anti-social behaviour offences had been committed in the area covered by the dispersal zone.

Of these offences, 214 occurred in the town centre, 10 in the Burnside/Broughton Road area and 89 in the Middletown area.

This number dropped to 232 after the dispersal order was brought in - 168 in the town centre, 23 in the Burnside/ Broughton Road area and 41 in Middletown.

Sgt Wilson said these figures, plus information from other organisations, suggested that the dispersal order was having a positive effect in reducing anti-social behaviour, crime and the fear of crime.

The order, the second to be introduced in Skipton, will run for another four months and is just one strand of the police's work in getting to grips with teenagers hanging around the town and victimising residents.

Officers are currently considering anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) against several known offenders.

A list of troublemakers has been drawn up with the help of other agencies and evidence for the orders is being compiled.

The police are also seeking the help of a Crown Prosecution Service lawyer.

And officers are involved in other local initiatives to keep teenagers out of trouble.

North Yorkshire Community Education Service has deployed a youth bus to Skipton's Aireville Park on a Wednesday evening and is now sending it to Bentham once a week.

Skipton police are also keen to have an input into plans to improve the town's bus station, which is a hotspot for various offences including racial attacks and abuse towards taxi drivers.

North Yorkshire County Council has made £55,000 available to spend on additional lighting and new bus shelters.