Elderly 'scared' to leave home in some parts of Blackpool

Coun Bradley Mitchell said he recently joined the police on a walk around parts of Brunswick and Talbot wards where one of the worst offenders was a child aged just 11 years old.

Coun Mitchell told a meeting of the Children and Young People's Scrutiny Committee: "A particular concern is children causing problems for residents.

"One of the worst offenders is a child aged 11. Incidents include smashing windows and throwing bricks at police cars, and there are elderly people too afraid to leave their homes."

He said there was frustration that not all the powers available to the authorities, such as parenting orders, were being used to control the situation.

Coun Kim Critchley also told the meeting a resident had told her about a young person who had been caught offending 58 times by the police, yet "nothing is happening" to them.

Sara McCartan, head of adolescent services at Blackpool Council, said there were consequences to offending by young people in Blackpool, and currently two children from the town are in custody.

She said a 'child first' approach was taken but "that doesn't mean we take offending lightly."

She added: "We are not turning a blind eye. We are acting on it but in a child first way and wrapping services around them."

This year Blackpool police have used a number of dispersal orders (police powers to ask people to leave a specified area for a specified time) to control outbreaks of anti-social behaviour.

Blackpool's Youth Justice Plan says in response to a spike in anti-social behaviour in the central wards, action has been taken to target disruption hotspots including formation of a task force made up of police and social workers.

Funding has also been found to set up more activities including at the TaB (Talbot and Brunswick Sports Barn), which it is hoped will divert children away from causing trouble.

Blackpool is also part of the government's £300m Turnaround programme, which includes £60m for schemes to help stop youngsters falling into crime.

Then Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab visited the TaB in May to see how projects were working there.