Booze seized from teens in crackdown in Bognor Regis

Neighbourhood police officers and police community support officers confiscated the booze between June 30 and September 4.

It was taken from under-18s found drinking in public places.

The PCs and PCSOs targeted known hotspots for the illegal activity as part of their ongoing Operation Respect.

Inspector John Merrick, of Bognor police station, said any under-age drinking was too much.

But the amount compared favourably to the 100 litres-plus taken from teenagers during the nine days around last February's half term.

"We target particular areas with the patrols where we know there have been anti social behaviour problems," he explained.

"It could be Hotham Park one night and somewhere in Middleton the next. Where we go is intelligence led from the reports we receive and the information our officers pick up on their patrols."

There were 59 alcohol seizures in all by the police during the summer.

Those included 25 incidents which occurred as a result of public drinking in contravention of the no alcohol law which covers all the Bognor urban area.

Operation Respect will carry on into the autumn, under the

control of Insp Sharon Parker, after clocking up 93 hours of dedicated patrols in the summer.

It is being allied to an ongoing schools' education programme about the perils of excessive alcohol drinking.

One pleasing aspect of the summer's patrols to the police was the absence of weapons found on any individuals whom they had reason to stop in the street. They carried out 48 stops between June 30 and September 4.

Those resulted in 28 searches where officers believed there was a risk of weapons being found or stolen goods. But no knives were discovered among those over and under 18.

This backed the intensive checks with metal detectors carried out in some Bognor pubs and clubs in the summer.

Insp Merrick explained: "This again shows that we do not have the weapon- carrying culture that there is in many metropolitan areas."

"We do get knife crime but when it occurs it is usually domestic or drug related or a spur of the moment offence."