POLICE have slapped a 48-hour exclusion zone on Tavistock anti-social behaviour hotspots — and warned the same could happen in neighbouring Okehampton to curb a rising tide of hooliganism.

The dispersal order, which is designed to prevent large crowds of trouble-makers gathering, saw at least one arrest and was put in place shortly after officers revealed they had called in reinforcements from Exeter to deal with incidents involving a spate of damage to public property in both towns.

Officers said the order covered an area from The Meadows to football pitches at Crowndale where crowds of young people are leaving behind a trail of damage and litter.

Police said they had made the decision to impose the order on Friday after reports that a crowd of around 20 youths had been reported gathering in the area of The Meadows.

A dispersal order can result in the arrest of a person if they do not comply with police instructions to leave the area and could lead to a court appearance and a criminal record. It is only effective for a maximum of 48 hours and was in force in Tavistock over the weekend.

One 18-year-old girl was arrested by Tavistock officers during that period for being drunk and disorderly.

Tavistock-based Sgt Chris Chaloner said the order was imposed after consultation with an inspector in response to public concerns about continuing anti-social behaviour in the town.

Incidents over the past several weeks have included hooligans twice bombing cars with chunks of granite from the 70-feet high former railway viaduct in Tavistock, which caused thousands of pounds of damage to vehicles parked below.

Residents were said to be terrified that the missiles would injure or kill someone, or that they would crash through the roofs of their homes.

Vandals set fire to public toilets near the Wharf in Tavistock, causing significant damage and in a separate incident wrecked statues and plants in the town’s sensory garden in The Meadows.

Among the latest incidents of vandalism reported over the last week are criminal damage to a wall at the Anchorage Centre near the town’s bus station and at Whitchurch Primary School between Thursday and Sunday, where a picnic bench was smashed, and a bandstand in the playground was damaged, along with some bins.

Sgt Chaloner said local officers had put anti-social behaviour as number one priority on their duties list after a litany of reports of trouble by local residents.

He said similar problems had been encountered in areas of open space such as Simmons Park in Okehampton, where police arrested one youth under the influence of alcohol after chasing him and discovered what officers described as an offensive weapon in his bag.

Sgt Chaloner said although consideration had been given to imposing a dispersal order in Okehampton, police had not gone ahead with the idea. But he added: ‘It is something we would look at doing if it became necessary.’