As police embarked on Operation Yardman, Weekly News reporter IAN CHEVEAU joined them to witness some of the drunken mayhem that goes on at night.

WIDNES police officers were out in force at the weekend as part of a huge operation to crack down on the anti-social antics of youths.

Teams of officers were dispatched across the town in a bid to target those responsible for underage drinking, criminal damage and public order offences.

They were also on the lookout for youths who cause havoc in their communities by setting wheelie bins on fire and climbing over fences and gates onto people's property.

Officers confiscated alcohol, took details of youths committing anti-social behaviour offences and sent letters home to their parents, in an attempt to rid the streets of unruly yobs who have blighted the town in recent months.

Operation Yardman will take place again tomorrow and Saturday night and police will not just be concentrating their efforts on a particular area of Widnes - they will be carrying out high visibility patrols in all hot-spot areas throughout the town.

Community Action Team (CAT) officers from the Widnes Neighbourhood Policing Unit (NPU) were joined by officers from the Blue Lamp project and the Area Support Group (ASG) to provide an additional presence on the streets.

Halton councillors also accompanied police on patrol to see the issues for themselves.

Part of the high visibility operation involved further patrols around St Ambrose Church in Halton View and St Luke's Church in Farnworth.

Residents have made police aware that youths are congregating in the churchyards and, in some cases, removing wreaths from graves. Two weeks ago officers took the names and contact details of youths who had gathered at St Luke's Church. Letters were sent to their parents to inform them of what their children were up to and the distress caused.

PC Deborah Rigby said: 'This operation will be repeated this weekend to en-sure the message hits home that officers are out on the streets and will not tolerate any kind of anti-social behaviour - especially the removal of wreaths and flowers from church yards.

'Residents have the right to enjoy their weekends in peace and not be disturbed by the minority of youths who think they can cause trouble and get away with it.

'Parents may not be aware of what their child is up to and probably wouldn't like to think that their child could be responsible for the removal of flowers from graves.

'But these youths do have parents and guardians and I would appeal to them to help police by taking responsibility for questioning where their children are and what they are up to at night.'