Over 110 items of alcohol have been seized from under-18s in New Tredegar this summer, as part of an operation to tackle underage drinking and associated anti-social behaviour.
Officers from the Rhymney Neighbourhood Policing Team seized the alcohol on four Friday nights in July and August, together with Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Community Safety Wardens.
The British Transport Police were also involved in the operation and were patrolling Tirphil train station and confiscating alcohol from any under-18s.
The alcohol was mainly seized from teenagers in Grove Park. Anti-social behaviour in the park is currently a PACT priority for the area, and is an issue that officers and wardens are working hard to resolve.
In total 35 individuals were stopped and searched, and the following alcohol was seized:
- 46 bottles of a vodka alco-pop
- 40 cans of cider and lager
- 21 bottles of lager
- 2 x 3 litre bottles of cider
- Bottle of wine
- Bottle of vodka
Officers and Community Safety Wardens also poured away alcohol from cans and bottles that were already open when the young people were stopped.
Three people were issued with anti-social behaviour referrals during the operation and three people were arrested for public order and drugs related offences.
New Tredegar ward officer, PC Iestyn Penrose, said: “This latest operation is part of our ongoing efforts to prevent underage drinking and anti-social behaviour in Grove Park. It’s an issue that local residents have told us they would like to see tackled and we are working hard to address it.
“It is only a minority of young people that are taking part in this type of behaviour, and we’ve explained to them the negative impact that it is having on local residents. We’ve also spoken to a number of the parents of the young people that were stopped to explain to them the possible consequences of continued anti-social behaviour. We have found that the number of calls reporting anti-social behaviour have reduced since this operation.”
Cllr Lyn Ackerman, Cabinet Member for the Environment said, “It is targeted operations such as this one carried out in New Tredegar recently that really emphasise to the very small minority of people who behave in an anti-social manner that their behaviour will not be accepted.”
She continued, “Our residents deserve to live their lives without the threat of anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhoods, and through this and future similar operations, we will continue to do our upmost alongside our partner agencies to ensure that this most definitely is the case.”
