‘Depending on what we do, one side won’t be happy” - Police voice issues around young people at Marine Lake

Depending on what we do, one side won’t be happy’ - Weston police inspector explains difficulties force faces dealing with young people gathering at Marine Lake

A Weston police inspector has outlined the difficulties law enforcement face when dealing with groups of young people gathering at Marine Lake.

Anti-social behaviour at the lake has been a frequent topic of discussion in Weston since it was the scene of a “number of issues with litter, antisocial behaviour and inappropriate activities” over the bank holiday weekend from May 23 to 25.

The issues have been predominantly blamed on young people, who have gathered at the lake in large numbers at times.

Marine Lake (Photo: North Somerset Council)

What should be done to address the issues, which have continued on a smaller scale, has split opinion.

Some have called for young people to be stopped from gathering there. Others insist they should be free to go where they please, providing they aren’t causing an issue.

Inspector Lee Kerslake explained the approach Weston Town Centre’s Neighbourhood Police Team, which he leads, had taken since May, which has included “targeted patrols”.

“We haven’t had the same repeat number of calls since that weekend,” he told a Weston Town Council meeting on Monday.

“I’m not saying that’s because of the patrols, because we haven’t been there all the time.

“And some of the calls we have had have been ‘there is a group here’. 

“We’ve got to balance the criminality with a group of kids (gathering at the lake), which I know is something that people might find uncomfortable.

“We’re not necessarily going to police that unless we see something where we think there could be a problem.”

He said the team will and has used Section 35 powers, which allow them to disperse groups from a location, “to preemptively look at the likelihood of anti-social behaviour”.

One was issued by his team at the lake after they seized an e-scooter and the group the person was with started “getting a bit angry”, he explained.

Addressing the wider issue of young people gathering at the lake, he said: “It is one of those where, depending on what we do, one side won’t be happy.”

That aside, he said the force will “target” anti-social behaviour and “deal with people who are causing problems” there.

But “we aren’t just going to pick apart small groups of five or more children unless we see a problem”, he added.

“Hopefully you will see that as a balance.”

May Bank Holiday saw a number of anti-social behaviour incidents at Marine Lake (Photo: Michaela Eley)

In the week prior to Monday’s meeting, the force received three calls relating to the lake, Inspector Kerslake explained.

“One was around somebody who had the music too loud,” he said.

“There was a fight between children and there was another where mud was thrown at somebody.”

Admitting there “definitely are issues” at the lake, he said the data did not suggest it was an “anti-social behaviour hotspot” currently. 

Despite this, it is being policed like one and has “targeted patrols”, he explained.

“We’re doing above what the data would suggest we would do because we’re aware that the data doesn’t reflect what people are experiencing,” he added.

Inspector Kerslake said the PSCO-led “targeted patrols” are in conjunction with community response police officers and beach rangers, as well as the town’s street wardens, where their capacity allows.

The lake is covered by CCTV and its operators are “generally very good at knowing their hotspots, identifying an issue and referring to us when they see something that’s a problem”, he added.

He also responded to a question about vandalism at the lake, and explained that they had been unable to identify any offenders yet through CCTV.