General Discussion

I was not surprised at the letter from a holiday maker in the Dawlish Gazette, which said "I could not believe the number of adults sitting under the covers drinking and smoking" worst to come, one of their dogs attacked a bystander's dog and then two of the men stoot and urinated while looking over at the people playing bowls and laughing She was shocked that there was a police shop across from there but no sign of any police. I have walked past there during the day and have witnessed the same plus vomiting and voiced my opinion to the local police only to be told they can't do anything as it's not illegal to consume alcohol in a public place in Dawlish.

There was a scrolling news device in the police station window recording their (police) activities that said something along the lines that they had received complaints about drinking on the lawns, but had had a word with the guilty parties who had promised to be good in the future. So not a problem the, whatever anyone else might think!

I have witnessed the same thing, I avoid walking past there if I can help it. It must be very intimidating for some people, especially the elderly. They need to move them on and have an alchol ban in public areas, lots of other towns have this. I have spoken to the local community police about this sort of thing and they told me, well we know its happening we monitor the situ ? The majority of the people hanging around in the shelters are drug addicts, and have carrier bags full of stuff they have just pinched from the supermarket !!!

There has always been a law against being drunk and disorderly in a public place and I am sure that this has never been repealed. Therefore it seems to me that these people are committing a crime but the police just can't be bothered to enforce the law of the land. What exactly do the police do now?

In August 2008 I was informed that the ban of alcohol in a public place had been raised at three council meetings but the council had turned down a request of a ban.