A police chief has vowed to crack down on gangs of youths behaving badly at Lancaster Bus Station and called on the public to report any issues.
Detective Inspector Adie Knowles said steps were being taken to tackle anti-social behaviour at the bus station, where there have been incidents of intimidating and unruly behaviour by gangs of youths, some wearing face coverings.
Det Insp Knowles, speaking on his regular 'Beyond the Beat' episode on Beyond Radio on Tuesday, said people can report any incidents via email to Lancaster neighbourhood policing team.
"There have been some steps to try to curb anti-social behaviour," said DI Knowles, pictured below.
"Some cameras have gone into the bus station. There is security on from Thursday through to Sunday in the bus station to try to knock anti-social behaviour on the head.
"There has been a dip in things reported to us at the bus station, but there was a robbery that occured by the bus station (earlier this month) and (issues reported on Sunday).
"If people see large groups of youths, faces covered, being abusive, then go on Lancashire.police.uk and drop an email to the neighbourhood policing team that covers Lancaster. The more we get told about it, the more we can put resources there to knock these issues on the head.
"It is intimidating for folk coming into Lancaster. I'm not saying every gang of youths is causing issues but the ones who have got their faces covered and are trying to rob people, that's who we need to be targeting.
"What do parents think their kids are doing if they are out until 9 and 10 o clock at 11, 12, 13 years of age with their faces covered? We have held parents accountable for their child's behaviour in the past.
"We are only as good as the information people tell us. The more we get told, the more we can do.
"If you as an adult are on a bus or in the bus station and you don't really want to be there, you want to get out of there sharpish before anything further happens, I'd advocate you getting on to the neighbourhood policing team email address and say I've been in Lancaster Bus Station, there were 30 kids with their faces covered up and they were being abusive and throwing stuff about. The more people do that, we need to get down there on a regular basis and use our powers to try to knock it on the head.
"There is nothing wrong with (kids) going into Lancaster city centre, they can be as a big a group as they want if they are behaving and not intimidating other people. It's not much to ask, but we've got a job to do and we can certainly do it better if more people tell us what they see."
You can report incidents online here.
Stagecoach, who operate the local bus service, said that Lancaster Bus Station is owned and controlled by Lancaster City Council and did not wish to comment at this time.
A Lancaster City Council spokesperson said: "New security cameras were funded and installed by Lancaster City Council at Lancaster Bus Station in December last year to replace existing cameras which were no longer fit for purpose.
"To combat incidents of anti-social behaviour, additional cameras were installed to monitor activity both inside and outside the bus station and to provide more clarity in identifying those responsible for anti-social behaviour, damage and other incidents.
"As a further deterrent, a decision was made to close the toilet facilities at the bus station each evening (Monday to Saturday) and from late afternoon on Sundays. During this time, the disabled toilet remains open for public use. Access to this facility requires a radar key which is available on request from the Stagecoach office."
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