Village hires private security

24 April 2010, 06:00 | Updated: 25 April 2010, 07:44

A North Oxfordshire village has hired private security to guard its annual morris dancing festival after teenagers caused trouble at the event last year.

Adderbury's Day of Dance was crashed by around 400 teenagers armed with booze. They'd decided to have a party of their own on the village green, but it ended up with paramedics being called to attend drunken teenagers and police called to break up fights.

Villagers were intimated by the large number of teens, who went on to damage their properties and urinate in their gardens. They were also left to clear up lots of rubbish afterwards.

This year the Parish Council have decided to take matters into their own hands to make sure it doesn't happen again. They hired private security guards to protect the event and the villagers.  Police were also there to confiscate and throw away any alcohol found on underage teens.

But Parish Councillor David Griffiths believes the party-goers don't come to cause trouble but under the influence of alcohol they become reckless.

"They don't come to cause trouble, but they don't come to watch the morris dancing either," he said. "They come to party with each other. They're celebrating. I don't know what they're celebrating. But in such large numbers and with the intake of alcohol they can get a bit silly."

The Parish Council's warning that if teenagers are caught with alcohol or parents found to be buying it for them, they will be prosecuted.