Residents in Petersfield turned out in droves on Monday to help police in their fight against growing vandalism in the town.

At a packed St PeterÕs Hall police outlined the issues they are facing and then asked those attending to discuss the problems in smaller groups.

The residents felt that, other than the police, parents and teachers had a responsibility to help curb the problem.

And they highlighted alcohol, boredom and a lack of respect as the causes they felt had given rise to the record figures.

When asked what could be done to combat the issue, more CCTV cameras and increased monitoring of them, Neighbourhood Watch-style patrols and tighter controls on the sale of alcohol were proposed.

But while many felt the vandals were ÔkidsÕ, police figures and a representative from the Youth Offenders Service suggested that people in their late teens and early twenties were the main culprits.

ÒOnly three per cent of children in Hampshire get into trouble, 97 per cent do not, so do not brush them all with the same comments,Ó said Jean Humphrey of the Youth Offenders Service.

She also stressed that there were effective ways of dealing with young people who do offend.

Many residents had expressed that the Ôpunishment should fit the crimeÕ, for example, those caught dropping litter on The Heath should be made to pick up litter on The Heath.

Mrs Humphrey said that this type of ÔcontractÕ was already being used.

She said that Youth Offender Panels had been established whereby members of the community were trained to set sentences for youth offenders: ÒWe are sentencing in the community, by the community, for the community.Ó

She added that the service also run parenting groups.

Sgt Steve Collins told the meeting that a third of reported crime in Petersfield was criminal damage.

ÒThat was quite surprising,Ó he said, Òit is a high rate, in Portsmouth it is 19 per cent.Ó

He added that 50 per cent of the criminal damage reported was vandalism of cars including broken aerials and wing mirrors: ÒA lot of the problems seem to occur on Friday and Saturday evenings after the pubs shut.Ó

He said that it was not a massive problem, but it was a problem for Petersfield and it was a community problem.He also said that it was one the police could not solve alone.

The special community meeting had been called after the highest-ever number of vandalism cases were reported in the town in December.

Sgt Collins said the police wanted to bring a wide cross-section of the community together to get the biggest possible picture of the problem.

Police outlined to methods for assessing the problem.

PAT (Problem Analysis Triangle) looked at the relationship between the victim, location and offender.

Sgt Collins said that national studies showed that 10 per cent of locations generate 60 per cent of the problems, 3 per cent of offenders generate 25 per cent of crimes and 4 per cent of victims suffer 44 per cent of crime.

ÒIf we can deal with one of these we can have a great impact,Ó he said.

SARA (Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment), was the second method used and the police were currently at the ÔscanningÕ stage.

He said that one solution was putting more Ôbobbies on the beatÕ but that came down to money.