The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Terry Lister has called on parents to help clear up the problem of illegal youth activity in Sandys Parish.

Mr. Lister, who represents the west end parish, also highlighted the need for new Community Police officers when he attended a community meeting in Somerset on Thursday night, which sought solutions to the problem of loitering teenagers in several areas of the parish.

He along with other west end MPs Dennis Lister and Walter Lister, addressed a packed West End School assembly about alleged illegal activity by dozens of teens along Pitch Fork Lane.

Speaking in the House of Assembly last night, Mr. Lister said: "If there is illegal activity then it needs to be stamped out. We want to jump on it early and try to fix it. But we cannot do much until we get the parents of these kids involved in their children."

Mr. Lister explained that a spot near Pitch Fork Lane in Somerset saw youngsters congregate in droves late at night and into the early hours of the morning, smoking, drinking and cursing - within earshot of a residential area.

And he said he did not believe it was a problem of lack of community activity for the youth.

"People are providing a whole slew of programmes for these kids," he said. "There is the Sandys Community Centre, church run programmes - so I have no doubt that these things are in place. It's a case of the parents interacting with their children, there is obviously something missing."

He said there were three other problem areas in Somerset that needed to be addressed which included Naval Field, Cambridge Road and Public Wharf.

Mr. Lister added that once the problem with the teens was solved, Community Police would tackle those areas.