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Public opinion keeps "yob" coverage on news agenda

The Peterborough Evening Telegraph is leading the fight to stamp out “yobbish” behaviour on city centre streets.

The paper has launched a campaign encouraging readers to Shop the Yobs after increasing concern over gangs of youths terrorising residents.

It is calling on members of the public to blow the whistle on trouble makers and report information to the paper that the police wouldn’t normally get to hear about.

As well as asking people to report crimes, they are being encouraged to sign an online petition – and already scores of people have logged onto the paper’s website to leave their name in support.

A reporter and photographer were abused and had their cars attacked as they worked on a city estate last week.

And the paper is expecting an even greater response to the campaign after a couple were attacked in the street last weekend by a gang of 15 youths.

This week another five well-known trouble makers, including one aged just 11, have been banned from the city centre for two years as police step up their clamp down on crime.

Evening Telegraph editor Kevin Booth, said: “It is quite obvious from our daily postbag and the number of stories we carry in the paper the city has a problem with yobbish behaviour.

“The police are doing all they can to make a difference but the public needed to play a greater role so we encouraged them to post us any information they had.

“And we have had an extremely positive response so far.

“The campaign has been running for a few weeks and we intend to continue with it and even step it up by possibly putting it together with a view to present it to a local MP or go even higher up.”

Residents are also being given a chance to shop the yobs online by logging onto a Cambridgeshire police website.

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