A BINGO hall has been forced to install gates in an attempt to stop nuisance youths and anti-social behaviour.

Working alongside police, Rio Bingo Hall, on Furtherwick Road, Canvey, has installed an electric gate to ensure youths are restricted from entering private property and causing “distress to customers and staff”.

The Bingo Hall has had issues recently with large groups of youths gathering on the sites property, and intimidating residents using the hall.

And town centre business owners believe the issue has become "horrendous", claiming that some evenings there will be groups of up to 50 kids gathered in the town centre. 

One shop owner, who asked not to be named, said: "It has been horrendous, not just recently but it has been getting worse.

"Part of the problem is that everything is reactive, and we have very little proactive action, so nothing is being done to prevent the issue.

"We are not just talking about five or six kids hanging around, some days and evenings we will see groups of 50 or 60 kids hanging around.

"They may not necessarily be doing anything illegal, but when you have a group that size it is intimating.

Police have insisted they will continue to patrol the area on a daily basis.

A spokesman for Castle Point's community policing team said: "Following recent reports of anti-social behaviour around the Rio bingo hall on Canvey, gates have now been erected by the land owner to ensure youths are restricted from entering private property and causing distress to customers and staff.

"The community policing team continue to patrol the area on a daily basis and will address any ASB or criminality that arises, utilising all of the powers available to them under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014."