North Tyneside coastal crackdown on anti-social behaviour and litter

Cullercoats is a popular destination during the warmer months

Anti-social behaviour, excessive drinking and litter are among the priorities to be tackled by an annual coastal initiative.

Operation Coastwatch will start in April and cover Whitley Bay, Cullercoats and Tynemouth.

Over the Easter and summer holidays there will be an increase in officers patrolling the Metro network and council wardens on the streets.

Uniformed and plain clothed police officers will be involved.

Metro owner Nexus has already started some evening security patrols on its trains.

As a result of the extra security it said between April and November 2022 the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour on the Metro had been halved.

Supt Kevin Waring from Northumbria Police said: "If you're going to come here and cause disorder we will deal with it and we will deal with it robustly, we don't want anyone travelling to this area and causing any trouble.

"We will have police officers and also in plain clothes on the transport system and on the coast to make sure everyone can have a safe time."

Another problem identified by people living on the coast was litter.

David Wynd says he worries about rubbish being washed out to sea and harming wildlife

David Wynd is the director of the Cullercoats Collective, which was set up by residents and business owners after the Coronavirus pandemic in response to concerns about rubbish left behind on the sand.

"Last year we ran about five trash mobs where we come down and clear the beach very quickly and in some of those we were probably filling between nine and 10 wheelie bins full of litter from the beach in one go," he said.

"You'd be amazed how many people leave buckets and spades along with towels and the clothes that they came in.

"If the tide comes in and washes it out to sea it's a real problem, with pollution in the sea and damaging wildlife up and down the coast."

Teams of volunteers regularly hold litter picks along the coast