Council and police working to address Duke Street Park issues

Sefton Council, residents and police have been working together to try to address antisocial behaviour and criminal activity at Duke Street Park. Residents have reported fireworks and other objects thrown at cars and pedestrians, bus shelter glass being smashed and otherwise intimidating and unruly behaviour at the Formby park. Police have had extra officers on duty and have put in place dispersal zones to address the situation. Formby Labour councillor Nina Killen said: "Unfortunately this has become all too common in the run up to so-called mischief night and bonfire night. It is happening every year and earlier this year, and I think even the police have been shocked at incidents over the last few weeks.” “I have been liaising with residents, police and the council to try to find a way to address these issues. The behaviour of these people is completely unacceptable and residents should not have to live with it.“ “The police tell me Formby has been really challenging lately and it’s not just young people from Formby causing issues. People are travelling into Sefton on the train, to Formby and Southport. The police have had additional officers on every weekend for the past four weeks and have used the dispersal powers on most of those days. Officers have been working their rest days to bolster numbers because of the number of young people involved and the type of behaviour they are engaging in. The police tell me they are finding that it’s a mix of local young people and people who have travelled in from other parts of Sefton / Liverpool.” “Residents have suggested getting the schools involved in order to identify the young people.”

”The police will undertake follow ups with parents and schools for all children they identify and they tell me they intend to keep their additional presence throughout the coming weekends leading up to mischief night and bonfire night. The police do have dedicated schools officers who have been going into local schools to deliver sessions around the mischief night period to hopefully deter some of the behaviour. The police will use dispersal powers and all other legislation at their disposal throughout the autumn period and any time these issues are prevalent.“ “It is a real challenge for the police due to the number of young people involved. The British Transport Police are involved and they do try to stop young people from travelling to the area but it not possible for that to be 100% effective. The police had officers on site around the park this weekend which I understand did help deter some of the activity.“ “The council is planning some events at Duke Street in the run up to Halloween and Bonfire Night, on 26 October and 2 November from 5pm til 7pm, but clearly they cannot be there all night every night and it is likely that while this will address the issues on those days during those times, there could still be issues outside of those times.“ “I have family who live around the edges of Duke St park so I am well aware of everything that is going on and how distressing it is for the residents. I will continue to work with the police and council to try to address these issues and keep residents informed.”

PIC: Cllr Nina Killen at Duke Street Park