Waitrose sees rise in youth anti‑social behaviour

Supermarket staff have said recent poor weather has contributed to a rise in anti-social behaviour.

JP Tebble, deputy manager of Admiral Park Waitrose in St Peter Port, in Guernsey, said the store had seen an increase in "groups of youths hanging out in the underground car park" since the beginning of the year.

Police have asked islanders to report incidents of anti-social behaviour involving teenagers in a bid to better understand where it is taking place.

The plea from Guernsey Police followed the force's increased patrols in certain known hotspots, where large groups of teenagers were known to gather.

Tebble said the gatherings were not "all bad" but the groups did "get very rowdy at certain times" which led to customer complaints.

"They do come into branch sometimes, so when there's a massive group of them they can get a bit playful," Tebble said.

"Normally we approach them and ask to calm it down and say it's a family environment, as soon as they're abusive to us we ask them to leave and if they don't we contact the police which usually turn up quite quickly."

He said the anti-social behaviour included riding trolleys or motorbikes around the car park but there had been one incident where a group of youths had gained access to the store's roof via the back of the building and started a fire.

"I think a lot of it is probably boredom for a lot of that age group, there's not a lot that they really do now on the island.

"I think a lot of it is, where do they channel that kind of energy instead of doing what they're doing. "

Insp Asa Flatres, who leads the Neighbourhood Policing Teams, said: "I really encourage people to get in touch with us, report where the issues are and let me take the reins on trying to deal with it for you."

He said the force was aware of the main areas where anti-social behaviour had taken place but he needed help to identify other problem locations.

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