"OPERATION GOODNIGHT" SHOWS SIGNS OF SUCCESS, SAYS JULIA

2.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 19th Aug 2008

MP Julia Goldsworthy visited the Close Hill estate in Redruth yesterday (Mon) to check on the progress of Operation Goodnight.

The high profile scheme caused a media storm on its launch last month, as it was the first of its type in the UK.

Local police have been working with residents and families to encourage children under 16 to return home before 9pm.

Julia visited the estate and met neighbourhood beat manager Pc Marc Griffin, along with residents and young people to see how it had affected them.

She said the scheme appeared to have been received very well among residents and youngster alike.

But she insisted it had been wrongly dubbed a compulsory curfew, which had given people the wrong impression.

Commenting, Julia said: "I met residents from across the estate and they all felt that Operation Goodnight has been a big success."

"Before this scheme started, it had got the point where many of them couldn't sleep at night because there were people out and about making noise all night.

"Now residents are able to sleep with their windows open, and reported incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour have dropped dramatically."

Julia acknowledged that there had been critics of the scheme nationally, but she suggested that some of them may have misunderstood how it worked.

She said: "This is not a compulsory curfew. This is a voluntary scheme that is about police working with residents and families to improve their local environment.

"It is about parents knowing where their children are, and what time they will be coming in.

"It is about safety for children and young people, who can now walk around the estate with much more confidence because they know the police are looking out for them.

"Many of the young people I spoke to said they felt much safer than they did before."

However, Julia said that more needed to be done to provide other activities for youngsters on the estate.

She said: "Part of this pilot programme has been to find activities for young people to do, but it would be great to see more activities for them on a more permanent basis.

"For it to be a complete success, this project should be about channelling children's energy into something positive, as well as preventing anti-social behaviour."