14-year-old arrested after firework thrown into road in Walton
Police say they have a zero-tolerance approach to incidents like it
A 14-year-old boy has been arrested after a firework was thrown onto a busy road.
The arrest came after a dispersal zone was introduced in the area of Walton Hall Park over the weekend following an increase in reports of antisocial behaviour.
The area had previously seen groups of young people throwing fireworks at police officers, members of the public and vehicles.
As part of the dispersal zone, which ran from 4pm on Friday (10 October) to 4pm on Sunday (12 October) seven people were issued with dispersal notices and left the area.
The 14-year-old boy who was arrested was referred to the Youth Offending Team for rehabilitation.
Information was also received from the public about illegal firework sales.
Sergeant Chris Riley said: “Merseyside Police continues to take a zero-tolerance approach to fireworks misuse.
“We know that residents living by and using Walton Hall Park were being affected by groups of young people gathering and setting off fireworks and we introduced the dispersal zone to prevent the issue from escalating and to ensure members of the public were protected while going about their normal business.
“We take all reports of antisocial behaviour very seriously and we received significant positive feedback from the public living close to Walton Hall Park as a result of this weekend’s activity.
“We also received significant information relating to local businesses which are supplying illegal fireworks to young people and we will be taking action as a result.”
Anyone with information about antisocial behaviour should contact the Merseyside Police social media desk @MerPolCC on X and Facebook. You can also report information via our website: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ or call 101.