Clacton to benefit from £1.1 million anti-social behaviour investment

Clacton will benefit from part of a £1.1 million investment to tackle anti-social behaviour across the county.

The Langham Drive area will see around 30,000 hours of additional high-visibility patrols over the next nine months.

Essex Police has already made significant progress across the district. Working alongside partners including Tendring Council, the area saw a 31 per cent drop in anti-social behaviour in the 12 months to June.

But Tendring district commander Chief Insp Ella Latham acknowledged there is “still work to do”.

Senior officer - Tendring district commander Chief Insp Ella Latham (Image: Essex Police)

She said: “We know persistent anti-social behaviour blights people’s lives and, if enforcement action is needed, we will take it.

“This includes issuing community protection warnings and community protection notices if the anti-social behaviour continues.

“But we want to get to the root causes of persistent offending, so we work closely with partner agencies to get people the help they need to divert them from this behaviour.

“Our police officers and police community support officers go out on joint patrols with the district council’s anti-social behaviour patrol officers.”

A further 10 “hotspots” across the county, including the Cowdray Avenue and Greenstead areas of Colchester, have been identified and will benefit from the new funding.

Essex Police and its partners will be able to tackle issues such as littering, graffiti, fly-tipping, street drinking, and noise nuisance by issuing fixed penalty notices as well as verbal and written warnings.

Essex’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst added: “It is unacceptable that people have to suffer from anti-social behaviour in their communities.

“By tackling these issues early, we can stamp out this behaviour and make it very clear this is not acceptable and that there will be consequences.

“By working together with councils, partners, and communities we have been able to identify and target offenders, reduce the risk of incidents by improving the physical layout of spaces and work with schools and community groups to provide alternative activities for young people.

“The investment and our co-ordinated approach will help drive down anti-social behaviour even further.”