Police Officers say they are determined to prevent real-life horror being part of Halloween for anyone in Cheshire.
They warn that anyone who uses Halloween night, or any of the time around Halloween and Bonfire Night, as an excuse for anti-social behaviour will face fixed penalty fines or arrest.
Chief Inspector Chris Brierley said "Halloween can be a worrying time for some people, especially those who are elderly or vulnerable, and we are not going to let an evening which should be fun the family turn into a nightmare for someone else.
"We have seen a continuing reduction in the number of anti-social behaviour reports on Halloween over the past few years and we are going to keep it that way. We will have additional numbers of officers on duty across the area and we are not going to tolerate vandalism or intimidating behaviour from anyone.
"We hope parents will play their part. They need to accompany their younger children to make sure they are safe and behaving reasonably if they go "Trick or Treating" and they should make sure they know where any teenage children are and what they are doing during the evening.
"A lot of adults will be going to Halloween parties and most of them will behave sensibly and have a good time, but there are always a few who will use the occasion as an excuse for drunken, yobbish behaviour. We warn them now that officers will move in quickly to any reports of trouble developing and some people may spend Halloween in different surroundings than they expected. Our custody suite does not have a great festive atmosphere!"
On the run-up to Halloween many shops have been asked not to sell eggs to teenagers, to avoid "egging" attacks on houses and Police Community Support Officers have talked about the anti-social behaviour issue when they visited schools.
A window poster with a "yes or no" message for Trick or Treat callers will be available soon in many shops, social centres, libraries and other public buildings. The same poster can be downloaded from the Cheshire Police website.
The "yes" side of the poster has a tick on a green moon with the message "Trick or treaters welcome" whilst the "no" side has a cross on a red moon and the message "No trick or treaters, please".
Chief Inspector Chris Brierley said "Similar posters have proved very popular in the past few years. There are people who just want to be left in peace, and they should have that option."
Click here to download the posters.
Comments
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Brilliant idea, and an eye-catching poster for kids! Who did it by the way?