YOUNGSTERS caught causing trouble are to be driven home to face their parents in a van of shame.

Underage drinkers and anti-social youngsters are to be targeted in the new police crackdown across Weymouth and Portland.

Their antics will also be recorded on police video cameras and replayed to parents to encourage them to take action.

The ‘Do You Know Where Your Children Are?’ campaign will run throughout the summer as a joint project between police officers, special constables, Safer Neighbourhood Teams and street pastors.

Officers will carry out anti-social behaviour patrols across the borough as usual but if they find young people drinking alcohol or acting anti-socially, officers will phone and question their parent or guardian as to their child’s whereabouts.

Provided no crime has been committed, officers will then put the young person in a specially-designated police van and bus them home.

Officers will use police video cameras to film young people acting in an anti-social manner and, in some cases, the footage will be shown to parents.

PC Stan Knight, community beat officer for Chickerell, said the campaign proved a ‘huge success’ when it was last used in the 1990s.

He said: “It worked so well because the children acted like butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth at home and then we’d put on the video of how they actually behaved on the streets. Firstly it was a wake-up call for the kids and the parents who didn’t believe their child was behaving like this.

“Parents also had the shock of the Old Bill turning up on their doorstep and finding out little Jonny wasn’t actually at the sleepover he said he was.”

He added: “While we’re putting the kids in the van they’re all the ‘big I am’ in front of their mates.

“They don’t get that embarrassed until they’re suddenly home and in front of mum and dad. That’s when the reality comes home to them.”

Hundreds of posters asking ‘Do you know where your children are?’ will also be distributed to shops, youth clubs, community halls and clubs in Weymouth and Portland by the local Safer Neighbour-hood Teams.

Weymouth Safer Neighbour-hood Sergeant Tony Smith said: “Like a lot of places in the country, there is a problem with young people drinking in Weymouth and Portland and anti-social behaviour is associated with this.

“A lot of youngsters are telling their parents that they are going to a friend’s house, when in fact they are not – they’re out drinking alcohol on a street corner, outside shops or in a park.

“Some young people become so intoxicated they require hospitalisation.”

He added: “We’re hoping that this campaign will encourage parents to ask a few more questions about their child’s whereabouts to ensure that the young person is where they say they are.”

The campaign follows an Anti-Social Behaviour Act Section 30 dispersal order being put in place in Westham.

The order enables police officers to move groups of two or more people behaving anti-socially in any public place.

Those who refuse to comply with a direction to disperse, face arrest and conviction.