Police are inviting outlets across Castle Morpeth to join an Off-Watch scheme to keep on top of trouble-makers.

The county currently has around 400 members in the programme, which works in the same way as Pubwatch and Shopwatch, whereby staff take the lead in identifying offenders, banning them from stores and sharing the information with other traders.

Licensing co-ordinator Steve Cochrane, of Northumberland Area Command, said: "The plan is for schemes to run locally and for off-licence staff to share information about who is causing the problems or any other issues they may have.

"Ourselves and our partners will help in setting up the schemes and will also be on hand to provide advice and take action if necessary to stamp out problems."

The drive to step up the Off-Watch initiative comes as part of a Force-wide 'We Asked, you said, we did' campaign to target anti-social behaviour involving young people, such as under-age drinking and large groups of youths congregating.

Staff can benefit from crime prevention advice, training sessions and regular visits from officers.

Chief Inspector Simon Packham said: "The vast majority of off-licences are well run with responsible staff and the more retailers that join up to the scheme the better.

"People do tell us they are concerned about anti-social behaviour, which can occur around some premises, and this is an excellent way of demonstrating that an off-licence is taking positive steps to minimise any problems."

For further information about the scheme contact Mr Cochrane on 03456 043043, ext. 63592.