Police car damaged as youths dispersed

A POLICE car was damaged when officers dispersed a large group of youths at a park.

The wing mirror of the vehicle was broken after officers were called over reports of anti-social behaviour involving a group which had congregated at Northfield Park, in Blaby on Saturday.

A dispersal order covering Blaby and Whetstone was put into force, allowing police to move people on and ban them from entering that area again. The order was in place from 10pm on Saturday until 7am yesterday.

No injures were reported during the incident, and no arrests were made.

A police spokesperson said the order gave officers the power to “require people to leave the area to reduce the risk of causing harassment, alarm or distress to the local community and to also reduce the risk of any further public disorder”.

The spokesperson added: “Calls received included reports of large groups of youths gathering in the park with anti-social behaviour being reported. Following police attendance, the youths left the area.

“Damage was caused to a police car during the evening including the wing mirror of the vehicle being broken.”

Sergeant Alex Goldsmith said officers will continue to monitor the situation.

He said: “With the order in place, we continued to monitor the area overnight. Our officers also continue to carry out proactive patrols.

“Thank you to members of the public who reported their concerns to us leading us to taking this action.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and urge you to report any further concerns to us so the relevant action can be taken.”

On Wednesday, yobs also smashed off a wing mirror from a police car and clambered onto the roof after a large group of young people was dispersed from Clarendon Park, in Hinckley.