Early morning visits were paid to the parents of young people associated with crime and anti-social behaviour on a North Tyneside estate.
A number of households in the New York area received early wake-up calls from North Tyneside Council’s community protection team and Northumbria Police.
It is part of Operation Harmony, a joint initiative between the council and the police designed to tackle youth disorder.
Parents were handed legal notices, warning them that they risk legal action or their tenancy being terminated if their child doesn’t change their ways.
Letters were also posted to neighbouring homes to tell them about the action and how to report any issues they witness.
The youngsters’ offences include harassing and verbally abusing residents, vandalism, and driving motorcycles at speed through the estate as well as riding them over grassy areas.
Speaking about the operation, Richie Mitchell, manager of the community protection team said: “The majority of residents, young and old, make brilliant contributions to our community.
“North Tyneside remains one of the safest places to live and problems such as these are not widespread. However, no one should feel frightened or intimidated in their homes, or anywhere in North Tyneside, and we will always take firm and appropriate action against any perpetrators.
“We have been working very closely with the local community, along with the police and our youth offending team, to identify and address the issues as well as preventing any further offences. We have also built excellent relationships with local schools.
“As well as our enforcement action, our prevention and education work is key. We regularly carry out street visits across the borough and run community drop-in sessions to advise and inform residents, and we work closely with ward councillors. We also engage with young people in schools, where we tell them about different activities available to them in the borough.”
Neighbourhood Inspector Michelle Caisley, from Northumbria Police, added: “We want to reassure residents that we take any incidents of anti-social behaviour (ASB) very seriously.
“The work we carry out with the council is vital in ensuring that people feel safe in their community. We appreciate that they can adversely impact the quality of life for people and we hope those living in the area will see that we are taking a robust stance against ASB and we will continue to do so.
“If people have concerns about ASB in their area then please contact your local neighbourhood policing team on 101.”
The community drop-in centre was held at New York Primary School. The school also helped to promote the session for residents to come along to and discuss any problems.
Keep up to date with the work of the community protection team by following its Twitter account, @NTC_ASBTEAM.