Police have warned residents around Moormead Park not to physically challenge youths they believe are breaking the law.

The message came at a well attended - and socially distanced - public meeting with residents in St Margarets.

Moormead has been at the centre of recent flare-ups with youths taking over the children's playground.

Two weeks ago, police twice swooped following claims of youths fighting and even wielding knives.

On both occasions no evidence of weapons was found and no arrests were made.

Speaking at the public meeting, Sergeant Paul James told residents to beware of trying to take the law into their own hands.

He also urged people not to share rumours and allegations via social media channels including WhatsApp which prove to be inaccurate.

The head of the St Margarets police team also acknowledged that officer numbers have been depleted in recent months.

Not right to muddy the waters

Sergeant James said: "We're getting reports of people challenging some of the youths.

"Apparently, there was an incident where one member of the public actually pushed one of the youths and then got punched back.

"Now, I've got no problem with speaking to them ... what I don't want is any member of the public to be hurt by challenging these people, that is our job to deal with that.

"To be honest, by pushing that kid first … they've committed the first assault... it's not right to start muddying the waters.

"If it is getting to the point of pushing and shoving then we need to be phoned."

Reporting crimes online

Sgt James suggested well-intentioned people may be using social media to spread misinformation.

He said: "Social media is a good thing in a lot of ways but it's negative as well because people start putting things on there that simply aren't true."

One of the attendees of the street briefing raised claims that an officer had threatened to use a Taser on youths as recently as last week. But the police said this simply did not happen.

St Margarets residents' concerns

Officers accepted there was an issue with drug dealers in the area and agreed to speak to a resident who complained about a lack of action on this issue.

Another resident was keen to have CCTV installed in order to drive out drug dealing and general anti-social behaviour.

Sgt James said: "To have cameras put in place we need a certain amount of reporting done, to justify a camera going in."

He urged people to report crimes and anti-social behaviour through 101, the Met police website and his team's email address – [email protected]

Policing levels

The officer admitted that police numbers have been depleted during the lockdown with a number deployed to other parts of the capital to deal with disorder.

He said: "Unfortunately because a lot of our officers have secondary skills as riot police, over the last two months we've been pulled to other parts of the Met.

"I've spent a lot of time in Hackney and Tottenham. I'd much rather be here, but sometimes I have to be moved elsewhere."

Next chances to meet St Margarets police

St Margarets Police is restarting regular events to speak with the public, starting tomorrow (Wednesday, August 26).

"I'm delighted to announce that our weekly contact points are starting up again at Moormead Park Pavilion," the force said on Twitter. "This allows us to adhere to current guidelines."

Dates for the diary:

September 5 -12-1pm

September 18 - 11am-12pm

More crime reports from Rory

Police swoop on Moormead Park