THREE teenage girls have asked Cheshire's Chief Constable Peter Fahy not to brand all teenagers 'louts and drunks' following his public comments on under aged drinking.

Mr Fahy spoke out in the wake of the death of Warrington man Garry Newlove, allegedly at the hands of teenagers.

He described how groups of under age drinkers, particularly males, could behave aggressively while under the influence of booze.

But 14-year-old Bishops' High School pupils Amy Holland from Boughton along with Claire Hill and Alex Hallett, both from Huntington, took offence at the Chief Constable's tone, who has responded to clarify his position.

In a letter to The Chronicle the girls wrote: 'We have just read an article in your paper concerning under age drinking in Chester and we are appalled to see the chief of police is calling the young people of Chester louts and drunks!

'It is not difficult to get into the scene of drink in Chester but it still doesn't mean that every single teenager is doing it!'

The letter writers also fail to see why they should be 'punished and sent home' when Chester City Council appears to be complicit in removing all their 'means of fun'.

'The Odeon has gone, boarded up, the Northgate Arena is moving to Sealand Road. Oh, and what is the Odeon being closed for? Another drinking place, how ironic!

'We have to stay on the streets as there is nothing else to do any more!

'Youth clubs are a start to keeping us a bit busy but the funding they get is very poor and most of the time we just sat there and talked, which we could do on street corners, so we stopped going after a while.'

Mr Fahy, a father of four children aged 12-22, is in agreement with many of the points made by the letter writers including the need for more facilities for young people.

He said: 'I totally agree with Amy, Claire and Alex that there are too many drinking establishments and places where alcohol is sold and there need to be more facilities like local cinemas that youngsters can get to.

'The vast majority of young people are law abiding, caring and conscientious. There are a minority however who give the rest a bad name.'


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