Food donated by king-hearted shoppers to vulnerable people in Accrington has been destroyed by a gang of youths during a supermarket rampage.
Police were called to the incident at the Tesco store on Eagle Street near the town centre on Wednesday evening (January 8). Officers said they were confronted by a ‘large group of youths’ who had taken food from the donations section.
The shameless offenders had then proceeded to ‘throw the food all over the floor and kicked it about to the point it was unusable’. Hyndburn Police has slammed the ‘disgraceful behaviour’ and the ‘total disrespect and disregard towards the most vulnerable people of Accrington and the good people who have donated items’.
Officers believe some of the girls in the group are from the Clayton-le-Moors area of the borough and they are currently trying to identify members of the group to ‘deal with them appropriately’. It is the latest in a series of antisocial behaviour incidents across Hyndburn in recent weeks with officers responding to assaults, criminal damage and verbal and physical abuse to staff members in shops and members of the public.
Police bosses have urged parents to ‘take more responsibility and know where their children are and the problems they are causing’. They believe some ‘may not be aware it’s their child’ and are asking them to ‘double check and take them home if they are a part of this group’.
In a statement issued this afternoon (January 9), Hyndburn Police said: “Over the last few weeks, we have been constantly called out to antisocial behaviour incidents in Hyndburn across a number of different ward areas. Incidents we have attended have ranged from assaults, criminal damage and verbal and physical abuse to staff members in shops and members of the public.
“Last night we attended an incident at Tesco on Eagle Street and were confronted by a large group of youths. The group had taken food from the donations section, where people had kindly donated food to the most vulnerable in our communities.
“The youths then proceeded to throw the food all over the floor and kicked it about to the point it was unusable. This is disgraceful behaviour with total disrespect and disregard towards the most vulnerable people of Accrington and the good people who have donated items.
“We know that some of the girls in the group are from the Clayton area of Accrington and we are currently trying to identify some of the group so we can deal with them appropriately. However, parents of these children need to take more responsibility and know where their children are and the problems they are causing.
“Some parents may not be aware it’s their child so we are asking them to double check and take them home if they are a part of this group. We as police are working with partner agencies and are currently looking at the appropriate actions to tackle the ongoing problem.”
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