COMMUNITY members met with police last week to discuss concerns over anti-social behaviour in Hiltingbury.

Reports of teenagers entering the community centre building without permission, deliberately flooding the toilets and CCTV footage of Christmas decorations being stolen were all discussed at a meeting on December 13.

Vandalism to railings at the neighbouring Hiltingbury Pavilion was also reported.

Borough Councillor Judith Grajewski was joined at the meeting by County Councillor Colin Davidovitz, Parish Chairman Margaret Atkinson as well as the District Commander of Police, Chandler’s Ford Street Pastors and the Hiltingbury Community Association.

Winchester & Chandler’s Ford MP Steve Brine said: “This was a hastily convened meeting but it was essential because reports coming in to me from Hiltingbury have been getting steadily worse over recent weeks. These are, on the whole, local teenagers and they are not bad kids but we need to nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand and escalates. “The police were very honest in addressing their shortcomings of late and committed strongly to work much better with the Community Association in the future. There is a small but significant minority that is causing the problem and the message couldn’t be clearer, the community, backed up by the police, are onto you.”

District Commander, Chief Inspector Simon Tribe, said: “Clearly we take the concerns of local residents and centre users very seriously and we discussed at the meeting that there have been some incidents there lately that have caused distress to people using The Hilt. The meeting was an opportunity for us to listen to local concerns and also talk about what powers and resources the police have to deal with anti-social behaviour of all levels of severity. We remain committed to working with partners and the community to find solutions to anti-social behaviour.

“Meetings such as this serve as a reminder to parents that they are responsible for their children's behaviour, and while the police will intervene and investigate allegations of criminality, it is ultimately for them to ensure that their children behave respectfully and lawfully within their community.”