Underage drinkers descend on Hook
CROWDS of teenagers are congregating in Hook and using it as a place to drink and socialise according to police.
Cans and bottles of alcohol were seized from youngsters last weekend as officers attempted to clampdown on the escalating problem which is outraging villagers.
On Friday night the police were called out to Hook play park where between 20 and 30 teenagers aged between 14 and 17 had congregated.
It is understood these youngsters are not from the village itself but from north Goole and the outlying villages as far afield as Gilberdyke and Howden.
On confronting a group of youngsters along Mad Dog Lane, in the same evening, the police seized a large quantity of alcohol and this week they issued a warning for parents to be more vigilant about where their children are and what they are doing on a night-time.
PCSO Beverley Doy of the Neighbourhood Police Team (NPT) at Goole said that while no criminal damage was caused at the park the noise level created by so many teenagers, some of whom had come on scooters, constituted anti-social behaviour.
"There was also a lot of litter left behind and the group in Mad Dog Lane who were drinking were committing a criminal offence," she said.
"In addition, there is the safety aspect of the situation. There is drink being consumed, it is dark and they are near busy roads and a dangerous river."
She said some of the girls were as young as 14 and this raised questions about how they were going to get home to the outlying villages.
"I would urge parents to be more aware of where their children are on a night; to make arrangements for picking them up at a sensible time; and to make sure they are where they have said they will be."
This was all aside from the nuisance the gathering caused nearby residents, one of whom told the Courier she was outraged by the influx of large groups of teenagers.
"Even if they are not doing anything that can be constituted as criminal, the fact there are so many of them together is intimidating and the noise levels are appalling," she said.
"I don't understand why they are coming to meet up in Hook from so far away. It is not fair on us and it makes me very wary of walking through what used to be a quiet village on an evening. They may not have caused any damage on Friday but who is to say they will not in the future?"
Chairman of Hook Parish Council, Trevor Blackburn, said:" We do have concerns about such a large group of teenagers congregating n the park and the noise nuisance is not fair on nearby residents."
PCSO Doy said the police were looking at tapping into an East Riding shelter scheme to provide designated meeting places for teenagers in Hook and also at West Park in Goole and South Park in Old Goole .
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Weather for Goole
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 12 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
