CONCERNS Have been raised over anti-social behaviour seen in a Caversham Heights-area playing fields.
The residents’ association for the area says it has seen teenagers drinking and smoking and causing a disturbance including leaving litter and smashed glass.
And they fear the youngsters – thought to be aged between 15 and 16 – were taking drugs in the incident, reported during the evening of Jubilee Saturday, June 7.
They said that neighbours who approached the group asking them to reduce the noise were verbally abused.
It is not the first incident the residents’ association has logged. They said that during the last weekend of April, a group of teenagers had fights and a girl is alleged to drunk enough vodka to require an intervention by Conservative councillor Isobel Ballsdon.
Martin Brommell, a member the Warren and District Residents Association (WADRA) said upgrades to MPF has attracted ASB which never existed before in the area.
“You’ve now got lighting from the tennis club, the pavilion and the school,” he said.
“What that has done is attract youths that we’ve not really had before. They are now using the new children’s play area as their meeting ground on a Friday and Saturday night.
“You start hearing music get louder and louder as the evening pounds on.
“You find all the beer cans and the broken bottles of glass the next day, which the residents have to pick up.”
He continued: “It’s a ready-made area for them to meet because they’ve got light from all the buildings, they’ve got somewhere to sit, where they smoke weed.
“When neighbours tell them to stop they get a load of abuse.”
Mr Brommell said accused the teeangers of vandalising trees and scrawling graffiti on the pavilion.
Thames Valley Police said they will increase the number of patrols in the area.
Inspector Sarah Sanderson, of the Reading Neighbourhood Team, said: “The Neighbourhood Policing Team in Caversham continue to carry out preventative work in order to minimise ASB in the area.
“We have put targeted patrols in areas that have previously had high levels of ASB, and are planning pro-active activity to take place over the school holidays and other times when it is more likely that anti-social behaviour is to take place.
“Further to this we have worked hard with the local authority to address why certain areas may have more anti-social behaviour reported in order to reduce ASB in those areas.”
She added: “Officers may not always be able to attend the incident at the time of the report, but we continue to encourage the public to report ASB incidents to police as it helps to build up a picture of what is happening in our local communities and we can take appropriate action.
”Reports can be made via 101 or our online reporting service.”
