EIGHT disorderly youngsters have been referred to a youth offending team following a high-priority anti-social behaviour operation in Saltney.

Sgt Neil Hughes, of North Wales Police South Flintshire policing team, has warned the parents that they could receive "a knock on their door from a bobby" if youngsters continue to act in an anti-social manner around the town.

According to Sgt Hughes, Saltney's streets have become an "informal creche" for youths to gather, with the Morrisons car park being the most prolific spot for anti-social behaviour in the area.

He said: "We have an ongoing operation in Saltney following reports of anti-social behaviour mainly amongst youths. We will be conducting high-visibility patrols in the evenings to try and target the vulnerable locations. What we have found is that we have had a large amount of youths from the Flintshire and Cheshire area congregating in Saltney.

"We have already referred eight youths to the youth offending team team for their anti-social behaviour and we will continue to tackle these youths in a robust manner.

"We ask parents to be mindful of where their children are. A lot of them are not behaving. Parents are using the streets as an informal creche and at the moment it is our biggest anti-social behaviour issue in Flintshire. Saltney has an issue of opening up and we have to clamp it down. We are hoping to sort them out before Christmas."

Sgt Hughes said the ongoing issue is related to the notorious vandalism of Saltney Football Club, with the latest in the spate of attacks occurring last weekend, where chairs were ripped from the stands.

In previous incidents, vandals have smashed the windows of the changing rooms, damaged dugouts, vandalised pitch-side boards and damaged the roller.

Chairman Darren Meredith fears for the club's future and said that the dozen or more incident over the past two years has almost ran the club into the ground.