I WAS pleasantly surprised to read in the BEN that police in Radcliffe had actually been tackling the problem of unruly teenagers on the streets.

In a three day operation, the police arrested one 18-year-old and reported 25 youngsters to their parents, by letter.

The operation was carried out after complaints by residents, and threats by some business houses to quit the area unless vandalism and abuse were tackled.

The sad part of the report was that not one of the parents who received the letters had bothered to contact the police to find out just what their child had been doing.

A police spokesman said maybe the parents had dealt with the matter in private. Well maybe!

But perhaps it would have been better had the police actually visited the parents, got them involved, and made them aware of their responsibilities.

Some parents, I suspect, who allow their children to roam the streets causing trouble, cannot be that interested in what their children get up to. They probably prefer their obstreperous offspring to be out causing chaos in the community, rather than have them at home making their lives a misery. What hope for children with parents like these?

If we had police stations that were actually open to the public, perhaps parents of unruly children could be asked -- or enforced -- to visit the police for guidance. It is to be hoped, however, that now the police have at last got off their bums and onto the streets, the good work will continue, not only in Radcliffe, but wherever these yobs cause chaos.

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove, Bolton