We stayed with friends in Sidmouth over the bank holiday weekend and whilst our weekend wasn’t as awful as that mentioned in last week’s letters (boy racers speeding through the town/bins kicked over/graffiti on property) we were told on the Monday that property of their neighbour’s had been stolen from within their front garden and kicked along the road (“A truly rubbish weekend, all told”, Opinion, May 23).

We mentioned to our friends that we had been woken in the early hours of Monday morning by people shouting and yelling in the street and they told us that this isn’t the first time this has occurred, nor the first time such incidents have been reported to the police.

They also told us of the residents in town having to install a gate to their properties because of antisocial behaviour. We couldn’t believe it!

Isn’t it a shame that a lovely small town like Sidmouth is spoilt by a few yobs?

A more visible police presence should act as a deterrent. Wouldn’t a police patrol car driving through Sidmouth, particularly on a Saturday night (and Sunday during a bank holiday), do the job?

Linda Taylor

(via email)