Police have been called and at least one beach business has shut for the day following a report of a large group of youths causing disruption on Margate main sands.
The ‘Kiddies Corner’ rides have been closed off following a report of youngsters drinking, using laughing gas inhaled from balloons and abusing passers-by.
A Kent Police spokesperson said: “Kent Police was contacted at 11.45am following a report of nuisance youths near Marine Drive, Margate.
“Officers attended and the group had dispersed and left the area. Local officers have been made aware.” It is understood officers have since been called back to the area.
Business owners say youngsters drinking and using nitrous oxide on the beach has been an ongoing issue for the past three years.
One, who asked not to be named, said: “We are suffering with this in Margate and Broadstairs, with groups of teenagers coming in from the Medway towns.”
In Broadstairs a 48 hour dispersal order was put in place yesterday (June 16) afternoon to combat antisocial behaviour following a recent incidents including a disturbance in the town this month which required the attendance of armed officers.
Reports were made of a group of youths with knives heading into the town after getting off a train. It is reported four or five people assaulted a second group and then left the scene at the seafront end of the town’s High Street at 5.07pm on Friday (June 10)..
Officers attended and a knife was located and seized. No injuries were reported at the scene but subsequent enquiries suggest one person may have suffered a minor injury.
An investigation was undertaken and three boys, two aged 16 and one aged 15, were later arrested on suspicion of a public order offence.
The teenagers, who are all from the Sittingbourne area, were later bailed to return to a police station on Monday 4 July.
It is reported there was also a disturbance at Viking Bay last night where two men and around 10 youths were involved in an altercation.
A Kent Police spokesperson said: “Kent Police was called to disturbance involving a group of people in Harbour Street, Broadstairs at around 7.30pm. Officers attended and spoke to the individuals, however no offences were reported and the group was dispersed.”
A dispersal order gives police additional powers to move on anyone causing a nuisance and, if necessary, to arrest those who return to the area once dispersed.
In 2020 Independent Broadstairs councillor Ruth Bailey was prompted to write to MP Craig Mackinlay after clearing some 200 laughing gas canisters from Viking Bay during a beach clean. She said she has two main concerns – the harm caused to young people using the laughing gas balloons and the impact on the environment from the canisters left behind.
Legislation introduced in 2016 made it illegal to sell the gas for psychoactive purposes. But Nitrous Oxide has legal medical uses and is also sold in catering shops to produce whipped cream – making its circulation harder to control.
In December 2018, a former Chief Crown Prosecutor said the new law had failed to stop the supply and described the product as ‘death in a box’.
Canisters of the gas are dispensed into balloons for inhalation. It can cause euphoria and of makes people become giggly and can cause hallucinations.
Risks include breathing problems when a large amounts of gas is inhaled, it can also cause burns due to coldness if inhaled directly from a canister or anaemia and nerve problems due to vitamin B12 deficiency associated with heavy use.
Side effects can include headaches, dizziness and bouts of paranoia. If too much is taken a person can risk falling unconscious and/or suffocating from the lack of oxygen.
And TDC had the gall to tell bikers not to come …..
Ha, that’s what I was thinking (ironic thing is these youngsters wouldn’t have the guts to cause trouble if there were 100’s of bikers around!).
These youngsters should have to pay for the damage they are causing, and for the loss of earnings the business have lost because of having to close
i totally agree , they stopped a perfectly normal group of people enjoying themselves with the cancellation of the bikers rally , and now we have open air drug partys on our public beaches , this area has gone so far down the pan i cannot ever see it returning as a seaside holiday area or a nice place to visit . i wonder how they will spin this latest one ?
Lock the feckless,feral scum up and have their uncooperative,equally feckless parent(s)pick them up.Make them do beach cleaning as punishment
Grow up.
Typical yobs ruining what would have been a great day for families to enjoy
Exactly Paul! These dispersal orders are a waste of time and money overall.
Not fair to blame ‘youngsters’, as this tars everyone with the same brush. Let’s call them what they are, which is young, chav scumbags. You’ll note that none of the offenders are Emo, Goth, Geeky or any other subset of ‘youngsters’.
It was always thus… The tracksuit wearing, socks and sliders, clone haircut, call everyone ‘bruv’ or ‘fam’ brigade are the problem. The solution? A nightstick round the head should do the trick.
Are you sure they weren’t teddy boys?
Whatever happened to old fashioned glue sniffing?
Steve, they managed to make something pregnant that gave birth to this lot of gas sniffing turds.
You people really are disgusting.
Chuck them all in a van, drive 20 miles down the road & throw them out.
“She said she has two main concerns – the harm caused to young people using the laughing gas balloons and the impact on the environment from the canisters left behind.”
No the 2 main concerns are the impact on environment and the nuisance caused to people. I dont give a stuff about their health.
That’s the problem. Rather than being concerned with the well-being of the law abiding majority, the liberal brigade worry more for the offenders. It’s time to start building more prisons and actually punish the scum. It’s time the majority had their human rights protected rather than the scum.
Scum again! They are people, you know.
Yes, people behaving like inhumane, uncivilised feral scum. The label is most fitting and more than earned in this instance.
They’re not.
Of course they are. What a silly thing to say.
@ Concerned, yes lets not let normal peacefull law abiding folk get in the way of the do-gooder brigades crusade to champion the young ferral scum, oops… there’s that “s” word again poor old Marva will be busy typing again no doubt!
so I understand Dover has a large collection of small boats going unused maybe we should make use of them and send France so new citizens see how they like it! or clamp down heavily on the corner shops that openly sell alcohol to scu… oops I mean ferral teenagers for starters.
Sensibly put better still put them on the planes to Rwanda we mite as well make use of planes as government can’t do anything right.
Clearly they failed with your education.
At least I had one, Andrew please do tell me what is wrong with my reply to Sensibly put (apart from punctuation caused by a dodgy button on keyboard.
Old, yes. Poor(ie to be pitied), no.
We passed so much traffic
Coming into Margate yesterday while we were on our way out of it, that we
Wondered if it was another Bank Holiday? Lots of children in the cars too. Why anyone
Would want to sit in the open
On a beach getting burnt to a crisp escapes me?
Visitors come in, we keep well
out of the way thanks.Don’t
really care what they do to each
other. Someone will have to clear up the mess after they’ve gone home anyway !
They’re obviously not working, or “working from home.”
Scum scum scum. Should all have been caught in condoms! Libralise that!
It’s funny how peolpe on this page have no idea about diversity and inclusion..
I feel sorry for the vistors who came down to enjoy a day in Margate. Who would in their right mind would not ever come back,thanks to these mindless YOBS.
Good old trashy thanet again. These yobs have not come from somewhere else they are not visiting for the day they are local trash. None of this behaviour in Southend or other seaside towns. But then police in other areas are not scared of yobs.
The whole problem stems from having an underfunded, understaffed police force who turn a blind eye to minor law breaking. It’s not just laughing gas, just look at all the illegal e-scooters there are whizzing about. If the law does nothing about it then more and more people will think that it’s OK to break the law.
We need more Bobby’s on beat to tackle minor law breaking long before it reaches the point where businesses have to close and innocent family days out are ruined by antisocial hooligans.
That will only happen when we have a bigger and more proactive police presence.