 In the summer the beach can fill with youngsters at night |
Parents of teenagers who get drunk and disorderly on a Cornish beach could face prosecution, police are warning. Polzeath residents say their lives are blighted by the so-called "snob-yob" holidaymakers' parties on the beach. In the summer more than 1,000, mainly public school, youngsters can descend on the beach at night. Officers say they will use powers under a 1933 act and warn they will take parents to court if they do not take responsibility for their children.  |  They're treating the police like the leaders of a creche |
In the past police have written to the head teachers of public schools asking them to speak to their pupils about their behaviour while on holiday. They have also created dispersal areas to tackle the problem. Head chef at the Waterfront Restaurant Rohan Kelly believes the responsibility lies with the parents. "The parents drop them on the beach with a crate of beers and leave them there for the rest of the night, it's the parents' fault I think." The local neighbourhood team leader Sgt Robin Moorcroft says they have not used the act to arrest a parent yet. "It's mainly a deterrent and to get a message across to the parents that police aren't down there to act as babysitters," he said. Another resident, Pete Smith, who lives close to the beach thinks the police force does not have the manpower to invoke the act. "It's parents' responsibility, they're treating the police like the leaders of a creche - it's great in theory but they just haven't got the facilities or staffing levels," he said. But Sgt Moorcroft says they will use the provisions of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 if they have to - the relevant part of the legislation says that anyone who is responsible for a youngster, who neglects, abandons or exposes them in a manner that could cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health can be prosecuted. "We want them to come and enjoy Polzeath and the facilities it has to offer but we do expect a level of responsibility and if people cross that line then we will have to deal with it."
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