Inspector Woodcock attended the hearing to speak superlatively on behalf of Warwickshire Police, together with CPSO Seb Apostol who regularly patrols the area and encounters the problems first-hand. Their concerns were genuine and their arguments powerful and compelling.

St Nicholas Park has been a thorn in the side of the police for the last five years with alcohol-related incidents of anti-social behaviour and even violent assaults. The area has been identified as one of the top three hot-spots for under-age drinking. Residents and users of the park are well aware of this and have been intimidated by large groups of up to 50 youths, making this a no-go area, even during the day.

Two years ago, these problems escalated to severe and unacceptable levels and, resisting making the area an exclusion zone, the police brought in extra resources with patrols, the invaluable CPSOs and launched successive blitzes on the park to try to control the situation. We saw police chases and vans through our streets and were heartened to see an increased police presence in our area which made us feel safer than we had felt for some time.

Insp Woodcock reported that the tide is now being reversed and they have managed to regain control. The mobs of drunken youths causing intimidation, damage, urinating in our gardens and general noise and public disorder gradually reduced and many of the youths appear to have gone elsewhere. What a difference we have seen. We are now more encouraged to use the wonderful amenity that is on our doorsteps thanks to the vigilance and persistence of the police.

There is an alcohol designation zone in the park which entitles the police to confiscate alcohol but what message is it sending to youths when they see the clientéle of the tea rooms supping alcohol? Insp Woodcock likened it to putting petrol on a bonfire. Why does the tea rooms, immediately adjacent to the children's play area, entirely inappropriately wish to sell alcohol if not purely for profit-making? A tea room in a park would normally only sell tea and cakes, ice cream and maybe a plate of chips.

Sadly the application was not picked up in time by residents here or there would have been more belated objections than those reported by Insp Woodcock - ie from WDC's security officer, the leisure centre, Safer Neighbourhoods, residents associations and residents here. The Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator here is also opposed to the application, the park being within the Watch area. Why was this application not advertised on the park notice board for added transparency?

Despite the good intentions and the rosy picture painted by the applicants, Insp Woodcock was right in saying that reassurances rarely come to fruition and I believe that this has provided the incentive for the youths to return and problems to plague our park once again.

How can we ask the police once again to apply their limited resources to help us when their warnings have been totally ignored by the licensing panel? And it begs the question, why was this powerful message ignored? Could it have been that the two Labour members were playing (playground) politics to spite the Conservative Parliamentary spokesman and park portfolio holder, Coun Chris White, who publicly opposed the application?

The decision was a crushing blow to the residents and users of our wonderful family park. - Coun Linda Bromley, Emscote Gardens Residents Association, Mercia Way, Warwick.