A READER writes:

I have little doubt many people may have noticed the near completion of the pedestrian area around the Wolborough Street end of Newton Abot, and it is just a matter of letting the dust settle before final additions take place.

In the meantime, an enforced ageing has come about with rubbish being thrown everywhere, with damage being inflicted on three newly- installed seats by an influx of every Tom, Dick, skateboard and BMX bikers as they crawl out from under their stones to infest the town with their mayhem, destruction and threatening behaviour to some of our elderly residents.

It has been suggested, by people who think they know better, we should embrace our young 'friends' as their skateboard park at Decoy might be too far away and the little darlings would become too tired getting there. yet kids as young as 11 and 12 have established themselves here to wreck the place from early afternoon until the early hours of the following morning if the police do not arrive to move them on.

Move them on – that is a laugh. They merely install themselves further along Courtenay Street where plants are pulled up, front flowerbeds and shop windows are smashed, and I hate to think what obnoxious concoctions have been thrown on to the ground.

I have heard many complaints from visitors who say they will never come to Newton Abbot again after emerging from shops only to be barged into by a skateboard or a BMX.

Some others are then disrupted as they sit at tables for refreshments. Others are told to move from the three permanent seats by kids who want them for themselves so they can proceed to smash them up.

Some residents and shopkeepers are beginning to wonder whether it might have been a mistake coming to this part of town, where certain actions compel them to contact the police so regularly.

Several people have noticed another anomaly. In many cases the kids disappear shortly before the police arrive, giving the impression they are receiving tip-offs through their mobile phones. The kids soon return when the police have gone.

Might I now make a suggestion to please the crawling do-gooders? Maybe we should convert all of Courtenay Street into a skate park.

What about the shops and residents, you ask? They can go elsewhere as they are no longer considered important, and the little darlings must not have their enjoyment disrupted.