Anti-social youths face the music at railway station

TRAIN bosses are trying to stop antisocial behaviour by playing soothing classical music at a crime-ridden railway station.

Extra security guards have already been called in to tackle youths annoying commuters on the platforms in Hull, East Yorkshire.

But train operator Transpennine Express (TPE) said the music would be played as part of a three-month trial in an attempt to curb the bad behaviour.

One theory is that the music will be deemed so unfashionable and potentially damaging for teenagers’ street credibility that they will shun the area.

The company said that the same move at Cleethorpes station had cut complaints of anti-social behaviour by around 75 per cent.

Dan Dreggs, TPE’S station manager at Hull, said the Cleethorpes experiment started a year ago. “It deters youths that possibly don’t want to listen to it,” he said. “We used to have about 20 to 25 youths each night and now we’d be lucky to get two or three.”

The tactic has been used elsewhere to cut crime.

‘It deters youths that don’t want to listen to it. We used to have 20 to 25 youths, now we’d be lucky to get two …’

Beverley Bus Station in East Yorkshire started playing Mozart in 2005 after complaints about gangs of youths congregating in the evenings.

Last year, a branch of Mcdonalds in Welwyn Garden City, described as a disorderly behaviour “hotspot” by police, cut off its Wi-fi and played soothing music from 5pm onwards.