Police say criminal damage and anti-social behaviour has been cut after they issued warnings to four teenagers.

Dozens of people in Shenley have reportedly phoned police in the last year complaining of anti-social behaviour – in particular near Tesco Express and Shenley Park.

So many complaints the officers at the Potters Bar and Shenley safer neighbourhood team prioritised tackling the problem in the village.

Following enquiries, four teenagers, aged between 13 and 15, were identified and issued with acceptable behaviour agreements.

These agreements are voluntary and when a person who has been given one commits anti-social behaviour, they could face consequences. A breach of the agreement could be used as supporting evidence for a criminal behaviour order.

Police say since they issued the agreements, they have had no reports of anti-social behaviour in Shenley.

Between September and December 2018, 25 incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported in Shenley as well as 13 crimes which included anti-Semitic criminal damage.

Those figures do not include the three anti-Semitic daubings which were painted over fences and the wall of a synagogue in Shenley in January.

PC Sophie Stalley, who worked with PCSO Chris Ramdeen to tackle crime in Shenley, said: “We put an action plan in place, which included increased patrols, identifying the young people causing the problems and we worked with their parents, who have been very supportive of our action. Some grounded their children as a result.

“Since we issued the ABAs and involved the parents of the teenage boys and girls, we’ve had no calls reporting anti-social behaviour in Shenley. We hope this reassures the Shenley community that we acted on your information. Please continue to let us know about any ASB incidents affecting your quality of life as there are multiple tools we can use.”