EIGHT East Devon police special constables joined local plain and uniformed officers on Friday night to provide a high visible presence in Sidmouth. The operation came after reports of a number of assaults on foreign students attending Sidmouth Internatio

EIGHT East Devon police special constables joined local plain and uniformed officers on Friday night to provide a high visible presence in Sidmouth. The operation came after reports of a number of assaults on foreign students attending Sidmouth International School.Sergeant Andy Turner said: "There has been a problem in Sidmouth but it is no more serious then in other areas for assaults, but there has been a blip."He said around 20 officers were on duty and three arrests of juveniles were made, all for drink related offences, and parents had been informed. "We had a number of spot checks on youths and adults in trouble hotspots but no offences were disclosed," he said.Plain clothes officers routed a group of youngsters from the derelict Fortfield Hotel and there was one incident being investigated relating to a juvenile in possession of drugs."We started at 7pm and had loads of comments about how nice it was to see a policeman on every street corner," said Sgt Turner, who said the operation would be repeated at a later date.