Police blast Aber 'yob culture' (From Free Press Series)

Police blast Aber 'yob culture'

A SENIOR Abergavenny policeman has hit at what he calls 'yob culture' following a spate of damage at the weekend.

Flower beds planted by the Abergavenny In Bloom volunteers were vandalised in Park Road and St.John's Square at the weekend and £500 worth of damage was caused to the Seven Corners Young People's Centre where several windows were smashed.

This is not the first time the centre has been targeted by vandals who destroyed a colourful mural painted outside the centre by the young people who use the facilities.

Det.Sgt Howard Salmon was angry about the latest damage and vowed that police would concentrate their efforts on finding those responsible, and he appealed for anyone with information to contact them on 01873 852273.

He said: "Although crime has decreased in the area considerably over the past months, offences of petty damage and drunkenness are on the increase.

"There can be no excuse for the yob culture which exists not only in Abergavenny, but nationally. These yobs destroy flowers, damage cars and smash windows and this latest vandalism at Seven Corners Centre is destroying the efforts made to assist young people.

"It makes my blood boil when you watch the D-Day heroes on television and remember everything they did for future generations when many of them were only teenagers, and then see the utter disrespect of a small minority of mindless yobs."

He said although Abergavenny still had incidents of drunkenness at weekends, it was nowhere near as big a problem as it was a year ago.

Meanwhile, Abergavenny Police revealed they are winning the war on so-called boy racers or car cruisers with Operation Elite.

Sergeant Huw Jones said 36 young drivers have been issued with warning notices, which means if they commit any further offences during the next 12 months their cars can be confiscated.

He said three drivers had already had their vehicles towed away and it cost them £125 to recover them.

"If these 36 commit any motoring offence, and that includes racing around, loud revving of engines or playing loud music, we will seize their vehicle. We operate zero tolerance."

He said the police had been targeting the known 'hot spots' of Abergavenny bus station car park as well as the car parks in Fairfield and Castle Street and Llandegfedd Reservoir where the boy racers have been gathering recently.