Merseyside Police is lending its support and helping to fund neighbourhood activities for children and young people in the Bootle and Sefton area during the summer holidays.

Local policing officers from Marsh Lane police station are working with Rampworx, a provider of indoor extreme sports such as skating, BMX, scootering and skateboarding, and have funded an eight-week youth diversionary project.

The funding, which came from the Marsh Lane community police fund, will mean that up to 30 young people, aged between eight and 11 will be able to take part in a number of coaching sessions, twice a week over an eight-week period during the summer break.

A DJ course for nine students aged 14-16, and funded by Merseyside Police, also remains ongoing.

Both projects have been funded using money generated through Proceeds of Crime applications from County Lines investigations.

The force is also offering its support to the Park Nights events organised by Active Sefton in parks across the Sefton area.

Running until 2nd September young people are given the opportunity to take part in free activities including inflatable sports, archery, football, cricket and tennis at parks including South Park in Bootle, Bowersdale Park in Seaforth, Kirkstone Park in Litherland and King George V park in Maghull.

Community policing inspector Ray Mavrakakis, said: “We know that the summer holidays can often be a challenging time. The school holidays combined with warm weather means we often seen an increase in reports of antisocial behaviour.

“We hope that by funding and supporting projects such as these that we can engage the young people living in the area and encourage them to take part in organised, responsible activities, which they can enjoy with their friends without causing issues for people who live in and around the Bootle and wider Sefton area.

“We know that it is only a minority of young people who choose to engage in antisocial behaviour and there are a number of powers at our disposal to deal with them but we would prefer to stop incidents happening in the first place and encourage our youngsters to focus their energies are something that is positive.”

For more information about Park Nights call 0151 288 6286 or email active.sports@sefton.gov.uk