New dispersals move a success (From Oxford Mail)

New dispersals move a success

8:55am Monday 21st August 2006

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Police have made 20 dispersals - but no arrests - since an order came into place in Rose Hill and Iffley Lock more than two weeks ago.

Beat officer Pc Ben Henley, of Thames Valley Police, said they had been surprised at how well youngsters had cooperated with the dispersal order, which allows police to move on gangs in designated areas.

He said they had made 13 dispersals on The Oval, where most of the trouble is reported - three in Ashurst Way and four in Lambourne Road.

Police have the power to arrest anyone who refuses to disperse or who returns to a designated dispersal zone, but Pc Henley said this had not yet been necessary.

He added: "So far there have been no arrests and the youths on the estate have been surprisingly engaging."

Rose Hill resident Vim Rodrigo said he had seen a decline in the number of youths hanging around and had heard fewer complaints about them.

But he said: "I think the teenagers over here already have a rotten deal as they have no amenities and nothing to keep them occupied.

"Until the council recognises that fact and gives them somewhere where they can hang about, they will be hanging about on the streets somewhere making a nuisance of themselves."

The order - the first of its kind in Oxford - came into effect at the beginning of August and was aimed at reducing problems with antisocial behaviour, intimid- ation and vandalism.

Between noon and 6am daily, police can split up groups of two or more seen in The Oval, Lenthall Road, Nowell Road, Desborough Crescent, Radford Close, Patterson Place, parts of Rivermead Road, and Mortimer Road, Rose Hill. At Iffley Lock it also applies to Weirs Mill Stream from Donnington Bridge to the Eastern Bypass, the east bank of the River Thames and along the bank to Donnington Bridge, including Iffley Lock, the weir, the Isis pub and Isis boathouse.

It will last for six months initially and can then be renewed if necessary.

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