Between 30 and 40 residents held an open-air discussion about the anti-social behaviour of youngsters in their neighbourhood after United Bermuda Party Leader Wayne Furbert went along to hear their grievances in person.

In a car park off Radnor Road in Hamilton Parish he listened for an hour, hearing stories of rogue youngsters impacting the quality of life in the neighbourhood by riding noisy, illegal motorbikes, or hanging out in groups until the small hours of the morning and committing small-time crimes such as spray-painting the Corrupt Town Crew logo ?CTC? on walls.

Mr. Furbert took note of their concerns and pledged to hold further street meetings, going to the heart of communities to hear directly from the people.

?The neighbourhoods belong to us. A lot of the time problems can be resolved by people getting together. Doing it this way is more relaxed for them. Not everyone can, or wants, to come along to a town hall meeting,? said Mr. Furbert.

And there was a feeling things had moved forward after a lengthy discussion about the anti-social behaviours the residents said they had been subjected to during recent months.

Police Community Beat Officer Calvina Wade promoted the idea that residents form their own neighbourhood watch group to co-ordinate their approach to combating the problem.

She also said it was important that residents who see a problem report it to Police immediately so it can be logged. The more people who report a problem from a specific neighbourhood the more likely it is that an action plan will be formulated, she said.

And callers should be prepared to give their name to Police because anonymous calls were not acted upon in the same way or given the same importance.

Amongst comments aired by the residents was a wish for more localised Police patrolling allowing a trust to be established between residents and their local Police officers and a youth centre to give young people some other options for spending their free time.

Ed Williams said there should also be efforts to improve parenting skills and a willingness to confront youngsters in an honest, strong but also a positive way to assist them back onto the ?right path.?

He added: ?The Spirit of Bermuda sloop is an example, but we need a lot of Bermuda sloops.?

Mr. Williams felt the neighbourhood needed to be seen to be acting together.

By the end of the discussion neighbours agreed to exchange telephone numbers and work more closely together in identifying troublesome incidents and formulating action.

It had been hoped Home Affairs Minister Derrick Burgess would also attend as he, like Mr. Furbert, is a Hamilton Parish resident. But the Government Minister was not able to attend due to a previous commitment.

After the meeting one of the residents said of Mr. Furbert?s appearance: ?The politicians have to go out on the streets to know what is going on.?