YOUTHS having nothing to do and nowhere to go, vandalism and unruly behaviour are not uncommon complaints from villages around the Vale.

Residents in Offenham were being plagued by regular vandalism last year but, with help from rural beat manager PC Tom Iddon, this has been drastically cut following the opening of a youth club - the result of collaboration between PC Iddon, local residents, the youngsters themselves and parish councillors.

Now Harvington appears to be the latest hotbed for bored youths.

People say they are at the end of their tether with a small number of youngsters who, they say, are making residents' lives a misery.

Harvington Parish Council claims the gangs gather around the village green and damage surrounding property.

Parish councillor Arthur Robinson said an "astonishing number" of incidents had been disclosed at a recent meeting and added: " Foul language is shouted at people using the village hall and the hall is regularly damaged."

It is this sort of thing which PCs Iddon, Roy Storr and Paul Adams see as their remit to help sort.

However, they are quick to point out that they do not offer a quick solution. Rather than getting rid of the symptoms, they tackle the problem.

PC Adams said: "We always tell people that we won't fix it today or tomorrow.

"We like to protect people but we are not 'sticking plaster' officers like people think.

"Our role is to prevent crime by working with communities and putting schemes in place which will reduce crime and the fear of crime."

PC Iddon said the situation in Harvington was on going and PC Storr had suggested ways to stop youths gathering such as planting shrubs on the green and ensuring the grass on the recreation ground was cut to enable them to play football. It was now up to the community to instigate them.

He admitted that most people expected a more aggressive approach but the job was to stand back, weigh up the situation then help people to solve it themselves.

He said: "Beat managers are not local beat officers. It is a new concept.

"We are there to try and solve long term problems such as anti social behaviour by youths, neighbour disputes etc because if we can't fix it, we know someone who can.

"These are community problems and should be solved by the community with our help."

This is not always easy, but he and his colleagues relish the challenge.

"Not every problem in society is a police problem," he said.

"In helping to solve these, sometimes you have to tell people what they don't want to hear.

" I am not here to win a popularity contest. I am here to do my job."

The beat manager approach - originally an American concept, appears to be working.

PC Adams added: "It is a new concept and it needs people to get used to it. The days of the village bobby on a bike are gone, but this seems to work well. We may not be on a bike but people know we are their contact point for any problems."