Police and wardens praised for tackling youth nuisance

Tow Law Town Council is writing to Durham's chief constable John Stoddart praising the efforts of officers.

Calls to police from Tow Law have halved since May last year, when the council was promised action.

Residents complained that young people were a noisy nuisance, drinking in the street and on the green, taking drugs and causing damage.

Since then officers, community support officers and street wardens have spent hours patrolling the town and talking to the youngsters.

They seized bottles from under-age drinkers, took away motorcycles and made arrests, where appropriate. They also removed a bus shelter where young people congregated.

Former council chairman Terry Batson said: "We have complained to the police long and hard in the past, so we should write to the chief constable now the results are starting to show."

New chairman Jeff Gale said: "We are getting back to where we were a couple of years ago, a nice quiet community."

Acting Inspector Victoria Fuller, who leads the community police team in Crook, said: "We've taken a proactive approach to tackling issues of nuisance and disorder using covert and overt tactics.

"Targeting only a couple of people, who had been identified with help from the local community as being at the root of the problem, had a positive effect on the attitude of other local youths who are nice law-abiding kids who have a good rapport with the police.

"It's important to remember and emphasise that Tow Law, as well as other areas within the Dales, is a safe place to live.

"However, we've listened to the community and done what we can to make even a small improvement to their quality of life.

"We all work exceptionally well as a team and it's nice when such hard work pays off.

"It's particularly rewarding when the officers are praised by the community they serve. Such feedback and acknowledgement of their efforts means a lot as it is those people that we work for."