For many Ruddington children, the arrival of the summer school ‘holidays’ this year has been rather less of an occasion – with the majority not having attended classes since March 20th anyway, due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
However, kids with too much time on their hands during hot weather – with home schooling on pause and with even less things to do than usual due to continuing COVID-19 restrictions – can lead to trouble. This has prompted an appeal from Rushcliffe’s Police Inspector Craig Berry to show consideration for others over the summer.
“The end of the school year has arrived again, albeit the last four months has been far from normal for our young people” writes Inspector Berry. “Tradition has it that the school leavers want to let their hair down and celebrate and we tend to see gatherings of teenagers on our parks and with that some silly and some anti-social behaviour. Residents that border our green spaces have had a difficult time in recent months with a noticeable increase in anti-social behaviour, drinking and even some drug use on the parks late at night. Please be mindful of this and be considerate of those around you.”
Ruddington teenagers heading to Sharphill Wood {pictured top} are also being warned: “This is a designated Local Nature Reserve and another area causing complaints of noise, litter and fires being lit by youths frequenting this location into the early hours. This is having an impact on those who live locally and enjoy this location as well as having an impact on the wildlife. We are working with other agencies to discourage youths from gathering at this location and ask those who go to the woods to be considerate and responsible in their use of this area. We request any people who notice fires still burning to contact the Fire Service on 999 rather than putting it out themselves.”
During July our village beat officers heard a lot of anecdotal evidence that there were some issues in our local parks, particularly on the Vicarage Lane Play Area {pictured above} involving groups of young teens, but about which police weren’t officially notified. However, there was one assault reported on a BMX rider in Rushcliffe Country Park plus a couple more reports of antisocial behaviour.
The Inspector adds: “The Rushcliffe Neighbourhood Policing Team are fully aware of the problem locations and will patrol and challenge rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour and you will be held to account.”
The full crime statistics just released for last month by Rushcliffe Police are below:
Ruddington offences reported from July 1st to July 31st 2020
1st Criminal damage – screw in tyre – Sheepfold Lane
3rd Criminal damage – screw in tyre – Sheepfold Lane
4th Common Assault – member of staff assaulted by customer in Ruddington Arms – Wilford Road
7th Theft from vehicle – number plate taken overnight – Camelot Street
8th Theft from vehicle – number plates stolen from vehicle – Templeman Close
15th Criminal damage – screws in tyre – Sheepfold Lane
15th Burglary at business premises – unknown person entered staff only area – phone and cash stolen – Wilford Road
16th Theft from shop – Meat stolen – Wilford Road – suspect identified enquiries ongoing
17th Theft from shop – Meat and alcohol taken – Wilford Road
18th Criminal damage – puncture in tyre – Sheepfold Lane
18th Theft from shop Meat and spirits stolen Wilford Road
18th Burglary of business premises overnight – laptop and phones stolen – forced entry to building – Pasture Lane
20th Assault/public order – youth kicked whilst on BMX track – Rushcliffe Country Park
23rd Theft from shop – meat products stolen – offenders left in vehicle – Church Street – suspect identified
24/25th Theft of various items – from communal garden – Barleylands
24th Criminal damage to fencing beside rail line – Asher Lane path to Vicarage Lane
Officers say the incidents on Sheepfold Lane were linked and that action has been taken to prevent further issues there. However, these individual cases caused the number of incidents to jump to 16 – compared with just nine the month before.
If you have further information about any of the offences listed above, or may have captured CCTV or dashcam footage which could help, you’re asked to call Nottinghamshire Police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
{Top photo of Sharphill Wood by David R. Thompson}
