A CALL for a ban on drinking in public in the centre of Tavistock and the Meadows has come from a leading town businessman.

John Taylor, chairman of Tavistock Forward, told police at a meeting last week that the behaviour of some young people in the town centre at weekends was ?frightening? and ?intimidating?.

He said: ?The first phase is when youngsters come into Bank Square from about 8.30pm onwards. The oldest looking one of the group will buy alcohol from a supermarket and they then cause damage in the square before moving on to the Meadows.

?The next wave is at about 11.15pm ? they come onto the streets with drink in their hands, make a racket and urinate in doorways.

?Then some time after 1am we get the third phase. Cars have been damaged in West Street and shop windows have been broken ? the situation has got worse over the last two years.?

Mr Taylor, who lives on West Street, said later that if the police were to crack down on the problem, he believed they would halve the crime rate in the town centre, much of which was alcohol-related.

?I?m not against young people enjoying themselves ? we?ve all been young, but this is frightening and intimidating behaviour. On a Friday and Saturday night people would not recognise this lovely market town.

?If it were not for our wonderful street cleaners, who are out working at 7am on a Sunday, the town would be littered with debris as people went to church.

?People who live on the outskirts of town probably don?t know it is happening.

?Could we not have an alcohol ban in the centre of town??

Mr Taylor said he will go to the next full meeting of the town council on Tuesday, November 2, to ask councillors to introduce a town centre alcohol ban.

Another town centre resident, Pat Randall, told the police authority liaison meeting at Tavistock College last week that he was ?shocked and surprised? at how young and noisy the offenders were.

He said: ?How can we deal with this? People are at times afraid to go out.

?There are cars screaming up and down the road ? one pulled out in front of an ambulance recently.

?But by the time we ring the police it is too late. How can we work together to deal with it within the law and let them know we mean business??

Sgt Dave Anning said an alcohol ban needed to be addressed as a community. In Bere Alston, a petition had led to a ban being introduced. As a result petty crime, litter and people being afraid to go out had all been reduced.

A survey in West Devon on the misuse of alcohol and drugs concluded that most young people got their alcohol from home from the age of 13 or 14, he said.

?We need to spend money educating young people on the effects of alcohol and get across certain messages.?

He said the government had a ?big drive? at the moment to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

But the community also needed to ensure there was something else for young people to do, he added. In Bere Alston this had included purchasing oars for the gig club.

Chief Insp Tony Steer said it was not only youths causing the problems. He said police were aware of the issues and were trying to address them. Most licensees and supermarkets were very conscious of age issues.

Licensing regulations were due to change next year. With regards to closing hours, there was an argument that if they were staggered then people would leave public houses at different times instead of in one group.

Chief Insp Steer said young people in Tavistock had put a lot of work into setting up a youth cafe.

He added that the force had put in a bid for more police community support officers and if granted they would be in a position to move ahead with that.

They had also recently advertised for special constables in West Devon and would be pleased to hear from anyone interested.

Chairman of the meeting and member of the police authority, Nonie Dendy, said in other places special constables had worked well in reducing the problem.

Tavistock mayor Jenny Metcalf welcomed the suggestion of banning drinking in public places in the town.

She said: ?It is worth a try. They have done it in Launceston as well as in Bere Alston and I?m sure it would be welcomed by so many people.?