Teenagers in Fife hoping to celebrate the end of term this week with an illegal tipple have been told to think again – or face serious consequences.
Police in south west Fife have pledged to step up patrols at Aberdour’s Silver Sands beach on Friday in particular, as scores of school children are expected to gather at the beauty spot to mark the start of the school holidays.
The picturesque part of the Kingdom hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons last month when warm weather attracted a large crowd of youths to the beach, which was subsequently left strewn with broken bottles and debris.
Firefighters were also called to deal with a blaze in gorse near the Silver Sands and a bag of cannabis was also discovered, with locals describing the impromptu gathering as “appalling”.
With the majority of Fife schools shutting for the summer holidays in the coming week, police have warned underage drinking, anti-social behaviour and other incidents which cause fear and alarm to the general public will not be tolerated.
Sergeant Kenny Bow urged younger members of the community to behave responsibly over the coming weeks – particularly with hot weather forecast.
“Traditionally, the last day of term sees young people converge on Silver Sands and we have no issue with that.
“However, the offences committed during the recent exam study leave will not be tolerated and my officers and our partners have been in discussions about how best to manage this matter.
“Silver Sands is a beautiful area to be enjoyed by local people and visitors of all ages, and the last thing visitors want to see are people behaving in a way that would cause upset, offence, or damage to the beach.”
Police have also urged parents and carers to make sure they know where their children are and what they are up to during the summer nights.
Mr Bow said: “I would advise the parents of young people planning to attend that they get the message across beforehand that the police will have an enhanced presence in the area.
“Mobile CCTV will be in attendance and we will have support from safer communities officers.”
