New dispersal zone introduced to tackle anti-social group

Lambeth Council and Metropolitan Police have taken decisive action against a group who are intimidating local residents and businesses by introducing a new dispersal zone on the Bolney Meadows estate.

The dispersal zone will be enforced from Wednesday, August 12, until Thursday, February 11, 2010, and has been designed to specifically target a group of young people and 19 to 35-year-olds, who mainly gather outside a parade of shops in Dorset Road.

The six-month dispersal zone is being put in place following complaints received by the Oval and Stockwell Safer Neighbourhood Teams from residents and local businesses located on the Bolney Meadows estate, which is also known as the South Lambeth estate. The reports include incidents in which the gang have openly sold drugs in flat stairwells and outside shops, vandalism, street drinking, harassment and intimidation.

Councillor Mark Bennett, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: "The local community on the Bolney Meadows estate has asked for our help and we have taken decisive action in response. No one should feel intimidated or harassed when they visit their local shops to buy a pint of milk or are verbally abused and threatened as they make their way home. This new dispersal zone sends out a clear message that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated."

Superintendent Paul Wilson, said: "We will not tolerate drug dealing and anti-social behaviour in Lambeth. The introduction of the new dispersal zone assists with our mission to make Lambeth a safer place. Residents have raised their concerns to their local Safer Neighbourhood Teams and in partnership a dispersal zone has been agreed. In conjunction with the introduction of this new dispersal zone we will proactively target those individuals who cause anti-social behaviour in the borough of Lambeth.

The Dispersal Zone gives Lambeth police greater powers to tell individuals to leave an area where their presence is causing local residents and the business community to feel threatened and intimidated. Those asked to disperse from the area will have their names and addresses taken by officers, with repeat offenders being put forward for further enforcement including an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO). A team of Lambeth Council youth workers will also be on hand to offer young people information on local activities offered by the council throughout the school holidays.

Section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 provides police with a power to establish and enforce dispersal zones, where there are reasonable grounds to believe there is persistent anti-social behaviour. Authorisation may not be given without the consent of the local authority. Dispersal Zones are not curfews or blanket bans. They do not prevent anyone from entering the designated area, but they address anti-social behaviour through curtailing two or more persons present in that area for up to 24 hours.

The dispersal zone will cover: Dorset Road, Fentiman Road, Meadow Road, Carroun Road, Usborne Mews, Richbourne Terrace, Oval Place, Palfrey Place, Kibworth Street, Bolney Street, and the entire Bolney Meadows Estate and its communal areas.

Lambeth Council and police have enjoyed a great deal of success in using dispersal zones to tackle anti-social behaviour in specific locations of the borough. The Waterloo Dispersal Zone, which has been reintroduced, enabled the council's Outreach team to temporarily house more than half of all regular rough sleepers found beneath Waterloo Bridge when the zone was introduced from 5 January until 4 June this year.

A new and larger dispersal zone was introduced in Brixton last year, which brought a huge decrease in anti-social-behaviour from drug dealers, drugs users, and aggressive begging. The dispersal zone was expanded following the success of the previous zone introduced to Brixton in November, 2007.

A dispersal zone was also used to successfully tackle a group of anti-social youths who intimidated local residents and businesses in Clapham's Queenstown Road area in September, last year.

Lambeth Council's Anti-Social Behaviour Reporting Line is an easy way for the public to report any type of anti-social behaviour. The line is open weekdays from 9am to 6pm. Messages can be left outside of these hours on via a voicemail system. If you do not wish to leave your details you can report anonymously. Please contact 020 7926 4000.