Village fears rampage of drunk yobs

Jun 2 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

PROBLEMS caused by drink-fuelled teenagers in a Northumberland seaside village will be made worse if a holiday park shop is allowed to sell alcohol, it is being claimed.

Residents and parish councillors in Cresswell, near Druridge Bay, say they suffer from anti-social behaviour, damage, foul language and littering by groups of youngsters who congregate on the village green and in the nearby dunes and woods to drink in the evenings.

Parish council officials say the police have been called to deal with incidents five times since the beginning of March, but problems of drink-related trouble and disorder have been going on for years.

Now a number of locals are opposing a bid by the Cresswell Towers holiday park – one of two large caravan sites in the village – to be granted a licence to sell alcohol at its park shop.

On Thursday Cresswell Parish Council and seven villagers will ask Castle Morpeth Council’s licensing sub-committee to reject the application by Park Shops Ltd for a premises licence at the Cresswell Towers shop. The parish council says most local councillors and many residents feel allowing an off-licence at the park will bring further detriment to the lifestyle of the village.

It claims Cresswell has a history of anti-social and aggressive behaviour by gangs of young people who gather in the village, clearly under the influence of alcohol, and sometimes drugs.

The council says this happens after the caravan park season opens in March each year.

It says youngsters from nearby villages come to Cresswell to meet up with teenagers staying at Cresswell Towers.

The groups bring alcohol with them and then wander through the village, shouting and swearing and generally causing a nuisance.

The council says that allowing the park shop to sell alcohol will only exacerbate the situation by making alcohol more freely available, and lead to even more bottles and cans being strewn around the village and sand dunes.

Local borough councillor Arnold Baker, who lives in Cresswell, said it would be dangerous and not in the public interest to grant the application until management at Cresswell Towers showed they can properly control the activities and behaviour of youngsters staying there.

The licensing application is not opposed by Northumbria Police or Castle Morpeth Council’s planning or environmental health departments.

No- representative of Park Resorts, the owner of the Cresswell Towers site, was available for comment yesterday.