CARLISLE Mayor Pam Birks has said ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to anti-social behaviour in the city.

Her comments come after Cumbria Police attended an incident on Monday evening in Scotch Street, after yet more reports of anti-social behaviour and criminal damage.

Police officers were also seen patrolling The Lanes and Globe Street following anti-social behaviour in the area.

Mayor of Carlisle Pam Birks believes a ‘zero tolerance’ approach now needs to be taken to tackle the behaviour within the city.

She said: “There does seem to be a surge at the moment of anti-social behaviour and it’s almost like the police can’t be there all of the time.

“In the city centre, we just feel as if there are gangs of youths who just think they can do what they want, so maybe we need to go to zero-tolerance and instead of giving just warnings.

“Maybe we are going to have to take that step further and say that enough is enough.

“We have been handing out these dispersal orders and all of these corrective things have been happening, but maybe with these young people parents should know where they are in the evening and if they don’t, and it’s going to hit the parents pocket, then maybe this will make the parents more aware of where their children are or maybe they will have these conversations with their teenager saying, ‘look this isn’t on’.

“The police are trying their hardest, but if the things are not working then maybe we have got to to be less lenient.

“I would absolutely hate to think that there is going to be a generation of young people with criminal convictions, but maybe that’s where we have got to.”

The mayor said she believed that many of the problems may be as a result of the Covid pandemic, with children not being in schools to take part in vital curriculum activities that work to stop anti-social behaviour in towns and cities across the country.

She said: “I do wonder if it’s because the youths coming here have dealt with Covid and they haven’t been in school doing the citizenship lessons about understanding respect, and consequences for their actions.”

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