Drunken youths who are blighting the Fife town of Lochgelly should be locked up for the weekend, according to a local councillor.
Ian Chisholm claimed sending boozy teenagers to detention would put a stop to outdoor parties involving up to 150 youths.
Officers have previously revealed that gangs of youngsters arrange the gatherings using social networking websites.
The organised gatherings began in Lochore Meadows three weeks ago, before moving to nearby Lochgelly after police upped patrols at the country park.
Community Inspector Ken Chatham has now branded Lochgelly a ”hot spot for anti-social behaviour on Friday and Saturday nights.”
Councillor Chisholm said: ”Police have a duty to protect the public. They should clamp down. I’ll be asking officers to lock these kids up for the weekend, for their own safety and the public’s safety.”
Police were called out six times to deal with anti-social behaviour in Lochgelly last Friday. Officers say they noted youngsters’ names and addresses and confiscated bottles of booze before sending them on their way.
Councillor Chisholm questioned these tactics, saying: ”The kids focus on one area for a few weeks until there’s a police crackdown and then they move on somewhere else. Then they run wild there, until they’re moved on again.
”Displacement is a problem. Move them on from the Meadows and they’ll go somewhere else and some other community has to deal with it.”
Muhammad Arif Ashfaq, who runs Lochgelly News Plus, said: ”I think they should be put in jail for the weekend. There’s 50 or 60 out there on Friday nights and it’s very bad for our business.
”People are scared to come near the shop, especially senior citizens. We have to call the police three or four times most weekends. Officers move the young people on but they just come back. It’s a very big problem.”
The manager of nearby business premises, who asked not to be identified, said: ”If the councillor wants to put them in the cells, I’d go along with that. Friday night is their drinking night and we see big groups of them. Some hang around the doorway, intimidating customers.
”The crowds seem to be getting much bigger recently, and much younger some are as young as 10 years old.”’Bring back corporal punishment’Sandy Wallace, who runs the West End Bar, disagreed with Councillor Chisholm, saying a weekend in the cells would give teenagers ”bragging rights”.
”The problem is a lack of discipline. We need to bring back corporal punishment,” he added.
Local councillor Mark Hood says the community must come together to tackle the root causes.
He said: ”Unless we address the problem it will continue to be displaced by police. We have to address the core issues.”
Chief Superintendent John Pow, head of Fife Constabulary’s community policing division, defended his approach, saying: ”Police officers will take proportionate action whenever they find evidence of offences, and this ranges from community-based responses to taking individuals into custody where necessary.
“Police officers will take proportionate action whenever they find evidence of offences, and this ranges from community-based responses to taking individuals into custody where necessary.”
Chief Superintendent Pow said youth disorder has been a local priority in Lochgelly and Lochore “since April 2012”.
He added: “If communities have concerns around policing in their area or would like to discuss their local policing priorities further, they can contact their local community team or are welcome to attend the next Fife Constabulary Community Engagement Meeting at 6pm on July 3 in Lochgelly Town Hall.”