| First Minister Jack McConnell yesterday visited the Beach Boulevard district of Aberdeen where officers have become the first in Scotland to use new powers to break up gangs of youths following almost 300 complaints by residents about noise and other problems in the area.
The legislation allows the police to ban groups whose behaviour is causing “alarm and distress” from an area of one square mile around the beach for 24 hours.
If the recipients of the ban return to the area within that time limit they can be arrested with penalties of three months in jail or a fine of up to £2500.
Officers have hailed the scheme, which has seen 45 youths dispersed since the beginning of the month for excessive noise and leaving car engines running, saying no-one had returned to the area during the period of their ban so far.
However, Inspector Gordon Taylor, of Tayside’s road policing unit, said there were no plans to introduce such a scheme to the region as boy racers do not cause a great deal of problems within the area.
“Certainly we receive a number of complaints about noisy vehicles and engines being revved up excessively and when we do we will police the area accordingly,” he said.
“Areas like Kirkcaldy and Aberdeen suffer from these particular issues far more than we do and we wouldn’t be looking to go down the road of using legislation. But if these problems worsened it would be another avenue which is open to us.”
In previous years, police in Dundee received numerous complaints about young drivers using Broughty Ferry Esplanade as a racetrack but Inspector Taylor says traffic calming measures put in place solved that problem.
Similarly, he believes the approach of establishing a relationship with boy racers, who congregate in the city centre, is preferable to the route of enforcing legislation.
He added, “We know who they are and they know who we are and this is the way we will continue to go to try and alleviate any problems caused by number of car enthusiasts gathering together.”
Grampian Police say the type of behaviour, which may result in a ban being issued, includes shouting, swearing, urinating, littering, careless and inconsiderate driving and playing loud music.
Mr McConnell praised the force saying there are communities the length and breadth of Scotland who need this form of protection from anti-social behaviour. |
