QUALITY of life in Nafferton has greatly improved over recent months as reported incidents of anti-social behaviour by youths have plummeted.
Police say that the number of calls on the issue fell from six to eight a day then to two in the last six to eight weeks.
But PCSO Chris Webster, of the Driffield Neighbourhood Policing Team, told villagers at the annual parish meeting that they s
till needed the public to report incidents of disorder.
“If you don’t tell us what’s going on, we don’t really know. We work here, but we’re not here 24/7,” he said.
Last Wednesday’s meeting at the village hall was told that a group of between 20 and 30 youngsters, aged between 12 and 16, had been involved in recent disorders including criminal damage, noise nuisance, verbal intimidation and, in some cases, physical assaults.
And, as previously reported, three youths from the village have been made the subject of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs).
Mr Webster said police had been receiving six to eight calls a day about anti-social behaviour in Nafferton over the Christmas period, but only two such calls had been received in the last six to eight weeks.
He also stressed that those involved in the trouble were a small minority of around 350 young people who live in the village.
“The majority are acting responsibly,” he said.
Mr Webster has also worked closely with the village’s World of Youth group and told residents the police were now better placed to investigate any reports of trouble.
“I personally know probably about 75 per cent of the youths in the village by name now. If there is any damage, we tend to know who it is quite quickly.”
He also paid tribute to the work of World of Youth secretary Jean Towers.”
The report was welcomed by parish council chairman Andrew Oliver, who said that improving youth facilities in the village was a top priority for the council in the coming year.
The full article contains 344 words and appears in Driffield Times newspaper.
