Bad weather helped keep youngsters off the streets

Just one youth was escorted home after being found in the streets of Seaham after 2100 BST on Monday.

A six-month curfew began on 26 April in an effort to rid the Deneside area of the town from rowdy gangs of youths.

But Durham police said bad weather was a factor in keeping most youths off the streets anyway.

Police forces in neighbouring Cleveland and Cumbria have already implemented similar curfews under tough new powers.

But civil rights group Liberty says it is mounting a legal challenge against curfews, which it claims are in breach of European human rights laws.

A Durham Police spokesman said: "We had a number of officers out on the streets as well as a dog.

'Good idea'

"We were quite happy with the way things went, but we were probably helped by the weather.

"There were no large-scale anti-social problems, so I think we have to look on this as a success."

Rhonda Berry, who has a 15-year-old daughter and lives on the Deneside estate, said: "I think the curfew is a good idea and long overdue.

"But my only problem is that I think it should have been for under-18s and not just under-16s.

"It is a shame that kids like my daughter are also being penalised.

"But at the same time most of the crime in this town is caused by teenagers between 16 and 18."

Easington District Councillor William Peardon, who represents the Deneside area, said: "I fully support what the police are doing.

"There is an argument for increasing the age limit to include 16 to 18-year-olds, but I hope what the police are doing now will sort these anti-social behaviour problems out."