Ramsbottom Police Call Time on Underage Drinking

Reporter: Ask Bury
Date online: 29 February 2008

Five people have been arrested as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour in Ramsbottom.

Operation Gallipoli was the latest in a series of operations to be carried out in the area and was set up to reassure residents by tackling young people being a nuisance, drinking alcohol and taking drugs.  The initiative involved high visibility policing in hotspot areas, visits to licensed premises and test purchases being carried out with Trading Standards officers.  Extra funding for this operation was provided by Burysafe.

The operation ran between 25 January and 15 February 2008 and over four consecutive Friday evenings, five arrests were made, 79 people were stopped and checked and a large quantity of cans and bottles of alcohol were seized.

Intelligence on key offenders was gathered, follow up visits to their homes with Six Town Housing were carried out and some official warnings were given.  Other young people caught behaving anti-socially had letters sent to parents or carers and their details passed on to other agencies such as the Anti-social Behaviour Team.

Inspector Bryn Williams from Bury West Neighbourhood Policing Team said: ldquo;We take the issue of anti-social behaviour very seriously and through various operations we have run along with our partners, we have seen a 20 per cent decrease in the number of incidents reported in the Ramsbottom area.

“Underage drinking plays a big part in the occurrence of anti-social behaviour and so as well as patrolling the streets, we have focused efforts into working with local licensed premises to make it harder for under 18s to buy alcohol.  Operation Gallipoli has also sent out a strong message to those adults that think they are above the law when buying alcohol for underage drinkers ndash; the penalty for doing this could be a fine of up to pound;5,000.

“We will continue to run operations of this kind to ensure that residents can enjoy a good quality of life in the area.”

Councillor Michelle Wiseman, Executive Member for Safe, Strong and Confident Communities said: ldquo;The success of this operation is really gratifying and I am delighted that Burysafe has been able to facilitate by offering up some funding. I know we are always talking about successful partnership working but the proof really is in the pudding ndash; by working together the council and the police make a formidable team which helps put Bury on the map as number one lowest for crime in Greater Manchester.”

To report any incidents of anti-social behaviour or criminal damage, call police on 0161 872 5050 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.