Police to clamp down on 'youths wreaking havoc' on town centre during holidays

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Youths 'wreaking havoc' in a Greater Manchester suburb will be targeted by officers this summer, as the force continues their hard clamp down on anti-social behaviour and crime. Bury town centre, which had become troubled with frequent incidents involving young people, sparked a major police initiative in the last year and saw more than 700 hours of extra policing of the streets.

It was coming out of lockdown restrictions that saw levels of anti-social behaviour in the town rise according to Greater Manchester Police, with young people meeting up with others to 'generally wreak havoc'. Popular shopping centres The Rock and Millgate are among the hotspots, as well as the Interchange, Kay Gardens and car parks.

And with the summer holidays continuing throughout August for schools and colleges, a multi-agency response will continue to tackle ASB, which police say is likely to increase once more. Operation Heartbeat has 'significantly reduced' the number of anti-social behaviour in the town centre in the past 12 months.

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The neighbourhood team has made 44 arrests and performed 151 stop searches in just the last three months. All local shops or bars have the power to issue Civil Banning Notices to anyone undertaking ASB on their premises, in order to prevent them from entering for up to a year. Police can arrest those who breach this notice.

PCSO Mohammed Shahid, is a member of the Neighbourhoods Team said: “Coming out of lockdown saw the number of ASB incidents rise, as increased numbers of youths headed to the town centre to meet up with others and generally wreak havoc.

“Operation Heartbeat identified the areas