POLICE carried out high-visibility patrols across Canvey to target nuisance youths on bikes, who are now riding into arcades.

Officers from the Castle Point and Rochford community policing team have been receiving reports that groups of youths on bicycles are now riding into arcades along the seafront, as well as the MovieStarr cinema.

To combat the problem, officers from the team as well as active citizens and special constables patrolled Eastern Esplanade as well as the High Street to engage with youths and parents.

Elizabeth Parkin, from Parkins Palladium, in Eastern Esplanade, said that youths on bikes had been congregating outside in recent weeks but they had not ventured inside.

She said: They can be very rude and mouthy, it’s a cabaret for them, they just like the entertainment of it.

“If you ignore them they tend to go away but they have been a nuisance, especially in the cinema.

“Basically it’s one little group which is a shame because the majority of kids on bikes are no trouble at all. But there’s one particular group of six or seven of them and there seems to be a ringleader.”

She added that potential customers have been walking by when they see the youths congregating outside.

She said: “They haven’t been down here that recently, I assume the police have had a word but they were down here three or four times a week. But of course it’s a nuisance if you have mouthy boys on bikes outside, people will tend to just walk past.

“The only thing we can do is to stop them coming in and ask them to leave, that’s all you can do. Fortunately for us we can manage our doors quite well.”

Anyone with information can report it online at essex.police.uk or by calling 101.