The town hit by a wave of mayhem... where something is 'seriously wrong'

Alan Sutcliffe was on his way home from the pub when he saw flames at the nearby park.

Police were on the scene, but Alan says another group were already heading onto the park as he moved away.

A wave of anti-social behaviour has hit Tameside town of Denton in recent months.

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At its peak, groups of 'around 30 to 40' youths would regularly descend on the Crownpoint Shopping Park, particularly outside McDonald's.

The authorities clocked on to it and work was stepped up in the area. The unruly gatherings dwindled.

But it has left a smaller number of people, intent on causing trouble in the community, to disperse to other parts of town.

Victoria Park - nestled behind Denton Town Hall and the Civic Square, off Stockport Road - saw two fires in two days on a busy weekend for police and firefighters.

Bins were dragged onto the park's Grade II-listed bandstand, which is over 100 years old, and set alight on both January 29 and 30.

Alan saw what happened on the second of those days.

He told the Manchester Evening News : "I was just walking home from the pub when I saw the fire.

"I got as far as the second gate, I could see the police were already there and I could actually hear the fire engine turning up, they got over here pretty quickly.

"As I was coming back out, there was another group of lads on bikes, going back into the park. Around the area there are a lot of lads on scooters and bikes riding around.

"They're quite lucky. The bandstand is old and roof is wood, the heat could have done something to that if it had been left to burn.

"There are a few shops where there is always rubbish outside - are they going to set fire