"Know where your children are and know what they're doing".
That's the message from Nexus' Customer Services Director, Huw Lewis, after a Metro worker was attacked as a gang of young yobs took over a station platform on Monday. Northumbria Police had to be called to Tynemouth Metro station shortly before 9.10pm to disperse the crowd after a member of Nexus' security team was assaulted and a train window was broken.
The incident forced trains to pass through the station without stopping between around 9.20pm and 9.50pm that evening, and images from Metro CCTV will now be shared with local schools in a bid to identify those involved. But today Mr Lewis advised parents to be aware of where their children are and what they get up to amid growing concerns about anti-social behaviour in the local area.
Read more: Replace free Newcastle city centre parking with free buses and Metro after 5pm, says passenger group
He said: "I'm a parent myself of teenage kids and as a parent you always want your children to be safe. Part of that is about knowing where they are and asking them what they're doing.
"When you have a large group gather at a station like Tynemouth, as happened on Monday night, there's probably a small core of troublemakers and a lot of other kids who are around that. My message is to parents and it's to say, know where your children are and know what they're doing so they're not at risk of getting caught up in the kind of trouble we saw on Monday."
In response to growing concern about anti-social behaviour, Mr Lewis added that Nexus recently deployed 24 additional security staff and moved more Nexus staff into frontline roles, resulting in 120 frontline staff across the network. A dedicated security team will now be based at Tynemouth and nearby stations during the school holidays.
Mr Lewis said: "Since Monday we have had a security team based at Tynemouth all evening. However, these security teams have deliberately been in the area for around six weeks because we know that customers using the stations around the coast have told us that they're concerned about young people gathering and the problems that it causes."
Have you experienced anti-social behaviour on the Metro? Let us know in the comments below
Monday's incident at Tynemouth Metro station comes just over a week after a 16-year-old boy was attacked by a gang of young thugs at Palmersville station. At around the same time another 16-year-old was also assaulted near Tynemouth Metro Station.
Mr Lewis added: "Everyone wants to travel safely on the Metro and it is a safe way to get around. Metro passengers know that there's always been some issues with anti-social behaviour with kids in the evenings.
"There's not more of these incidents, but they seem to have become a bit more serious since the end of lockdown restrictions and we're not the only ones saying that. You talk to colleagues in the NHS, in local communities and in the emergency services and it's the same story that emerges.
"That's why we're employing more staff as customer service teams and that's why we have special security teams in to counter the problem."
