Residents blame bar for late-night yob problem (From Echo)

Residents blame bar for late-night yob problem

4:30pm Wednesday 10th March 2010 in

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FRIGHTENED families are calling for an alleyway to be closed off following a spate of late-night fights, vandalism and unruly behaviour.

People with homes in the Fielders, Canvey, want a footpath between their road and Craven Avenue closed because they say is it acting as a magnet for antisocial yobs.

They claim the trouble is caused by rowdy revellers heading home from the nearby bar on Thorney Bay Caravan Park, which recently won a late-night licence for the weekends.

The bar currently opens until midnight at weekends, but will trade until 2am, if Castle Point councillors approve a planning application to vary its opening hours.

Angry householder Ray Williams, who lives near the alleyway, said things had got out of hand in recent months.

He said: “It started with trivial things, people nicking doorbells and other petty stuff.

“Recently it’s got worse. We had a large fight in there and the woman next door had someone defecating on her lawn. It’s just not on. We’ve got a nice neighbourhood and we’re not going to stand by and watch it get run down.”

Mr Williams, 54, is in no doubt the problems stem from the bar at the caravan park.

He said: “These are not kids. They’re in their twenties and they’re causing trouble at kicking-out time. We never had any problems in the alleyway until that bar opened.”

A year ago, the residents asked Essex County Council’s highways department if the alley could be closed off. It has already closed several alleyways in nearby Winter Gardens ward.

The matter is now in the hands of Castle Point Council.

Canvey district and county councillor Ray Howard said he sympathised with the residents.

He added: “If closing off the alley is the way to stop this sort of antisocial behaviour, then I believe we should be doing everything we can to support them.”