Concerns over anti-social behaviour at The Cross

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RESIDENTS living in Lymm are complaining about anti-social behaviour and the state of The Cross after young people left a mess on Friday night into the early hours of Saturday morning.

It follows Facebook comments about the area – which has been a focal point for young people who are too young to drink but want to hang out with their friends.
According to some reports, there were balloons discarded which potentially suggests nitrous oxide (or laughing gas) was being inhaled by the group.
Some comments were concerned that parents were allowing their children to stay out in the village centre until the early hours.

Lymm Liberal Democrat Cllr Graham Gowland said the discarded balloons weren’t necessarily used to inhale laughing gas as there has been a crackdown on nitrous oxide use for non-food products.
He said numerous endeavours have been made to help provide activities for young people on weekend evenings.
For older residents, being confronted by “40 kids at the Cross may feel intimidating, but it is not necessarily the case”, he said.
“Occasionally they may be told off and answer back – but there has only been one or two isolated incidents.”
He explained that while a number of events and activities take place in Lymm on weekday evenings such as Scouts, cadets and after-school clubs, the weekend options are more limited for people under 18.
And he said efforts are being made to “identify the gaps in engagement” involving young people.
He shared Cheshire Constabulary’s crime reports for the village between Christmas into mid-January 2025.
The last – and only – report of anti-social behaviour in this timescale was on Saturday, January 11 when at the Cross there was reports a “large group of youths hanging around being loud” was received.
The log noted that the Cross had regularly been checked because of reports of anti-social behaviour.

Government statistics nationally show that in the last year, just 0.9% of people aged 16 to 59 had used nitrous oxide – a downward trend from the previous year, when it was 1.3%.
There was no statistically significant change in the use of nitrous oxide in those aged 16 to 24 (3.3%) compared to the previous year, but levels were lower, compared with year-end March 2014 when it was 7.6%.
Cllr Gowland said efforts had been made to try and organise events at alternative venues, such as the Sanctuary Cafe, but young people didn’t know where this was.
The Methodist Church Hall and Scouts Hut had also been suggested but were not suitable for activities for the age group.
Lymm Youth Club runs in the village, offering table tennis on a Friday night, but it tends to attract people who are in an older age group.
And outreach work has been carried out by Warrington Youth Zone, he added.


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