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The exclusion zone is marked in red |
Exclusion zone for youths
‘Nuisance gangs’ to be banned from swathe of Kentish Town and Highgate
‘GANGS’ of ‘nuisance youths’have been singled out by new powers allowing police to break up gatherings in Kentish Town and Highgate.
Billed as ‘a clampdown on nuisance youths’ by Camden Council, a dispersal zone giving police powers to ban people from the area for 24 hours or escort under-16s to their doors will be introduced tomorrow (Friday).
The dispersal zone runs between Highgate Road, Lady Margaret Road, and the railway line alongside Ingestre Road, and is intended to contain an area that has seen persistent complaints of youth disorder in recent months, including a rampage in January that saw cars overturned in Burghley Road and Oakford Road.
The introduction of the zone comes after a ‘summit’ held by police in Highgate, Kentish Town and Islington to discuss concerns from residents and shopkeepers about a 30-strong group intimidating passers-by, vandalising cars and houses, and ‘steaming’ shops to steal cash or goods.
One of the zone’s architects, Sergeant Peter Ryan, said: “Over the past six months there have been groups of young men causing problems with scooters, causing problems with dogs, steaming; and licensed premises all have issues with youths gathering outside.
“This is a group of 20, sometimes 30, (with) a hard core of eight people, and they regard it as their area.
“The dispersal zone is a tactic to try and reduce the numbers in the group – I just want to stop disorder in shops, people being robbed, and people being intimidated. We won’t use it in a draconian way.”
Although Sgt Ryan believes the gangs draw members from a wide area, he said he was looking to Acland Burghley school, which lies inside the zone and where ex-pupils gather in the afternoons, to help with the problem.
“This is not about demonising Acland Burghley – there are four secondary schools in the area. But should Acland Burghley keep pupils in during lunch or in the afternoons?”
Kentish Town and Highgate will join Camden Town and Bloomsbury on the list of areas covered by dispersal zones.
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