Youngsters on the streets of Splott face the police crackdown

The crackdown is taking place in the Bayside area of Splott, where residents have said it will allow them to reclaim their community.

Police will use new Home Office powers to break up groups of youngsters they believe are causing a nuisance for local people late at night.

Children under the age of 16 who are on the streets can also be taken home.

The blitz is known as a Section 30 dispersal notice, one of the new powers available to police and local authorities under the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003.

We now have an avenue to reclaim our streets and not to live in fear in our own houses June Johnson

Cardiff Council applied to the Home Office for the scheme after discussions with agencies such as South Wales Police and the Probation Service in the Cardiff Community Safety Partnership.

The new powers began at 1800 BST on Tuesday and remain in place until 1800 GMT on Wednesday 17 November.

Within a minute of coming into force, police said they had taken details of a person who was causing a nuisance.

Police will be able to question groups of two or more on the streets and will be able to order them to leave the area.

From 2100 BST each night, officers will be able to take home youngsters aged 16 or under.

People who fail to comply with orders imposed as part of the anti-social behaviour scheme face fines and/or jail.

June Johnson, chairperson of Bayside Tenants and Residents Association, which represents 92 homes on the Bayside estate, has welcomed the project.

Police have new powers for three months under the project

She said the area had suffered from extensive vandalism by young people over the past year and residents had endured intimidation and attacks.

She said she thought the youngsters gathered in the Splott area in the evenings to take advantage of its open spaces.

She said: "At one point in time, it ranged anywhere from 15-30 youngsters, whose age ranged from 10 up to about 19.

"They would park themselves on low boundary walls. We've got neighbours who would not go to the shops after 7pm at night because of the fear of intimidation and verbal abuse.

"They have wrecked the park, dug up the road, ripped letterboxes from people's houses, and gas and electric covers.

"We now have an avenue to reclaim our streets and not to live in fear in our own houses."

Troubled zone

Cardiff Council's Deputy Leader, Councillor Judith Woodman, said: "It is regrettable that we have to resort to these measures.

"However, people within the community have suffered considerably from the significant and persistent problem of anti social behaviour."

The Section 30 dispersal notice has already been successfully used in Holyhead on Anglesey and Rhymney in the Gwent valleys.

The Section 30 dispersal notice in Cardiff covers: East Tyndall Street/Walker Road from the junction of Windsor Road to Singleton Road, to the north - to include adjacent retail and business premises to the South; to include Keen Road, Arrol Street, Bayside Road, Lamberton Street and Moors Lane, Lewis Road to its junction with Titan Road, parkland adjacent to Bayside Road, Lamberton Street, Titan Road and Lewis Road, Portmanmoor Lane and Road, Freshmoor Road, Neath Road, Swansea Street, Aberdovey Street, Aberystwyth Street and Moorland Park together with adjourning land.