Sergeant Chris Antoniou, who used to cover policing in the Hyde, Werneth and Gee Cross areas, has welcomed the Government announcement to introduce new legislation to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan aims to ensure perpetrators receive swift and visible justice with those found committing anti-social behaviour made to repair any damage they inflicted on victims and communities as soon as 48 hours after the offence.

Nitrous oxide - or laughing gas - will also be banned and police given more powers to test for drugs on arrest.

Chris said nitrous oxide had blighted parks and beauty spots like Werneth Low.

“It’s a big issue in Gee Cross and one of the local problems always raised at community meetings. When you go up to Werneth Low the cannisters and littering that is left is just disgusting and it’s not acceptable, so it is good from a policing side that the government are going to start to bring in legislation so we can crack down on this.”

Sergeant Chris Antoniou

He added that there are two sides to the problem of people taking nitrous oxide.

“You’ve got people going up there and taking this laughing gas and we don’t know how it’s going to affect them long term or the immediate effect it might have on their driving.

“But also there is the effect on the local community because they are just dumping these cannisters everywhere.”

The new law will make retail sale and possession of the gas a criminal offence for the first time.

The gas is used safely as an anaesthetic in medicine and dentistry, and as a gas for making whipped cream in cooking. Until now it has been legal to sell and is easily available from shops for things like cooking purposes, either in large cannisters or the small, silver cannisters which have become such a common sight, plaguing parks and littering streets and having become a problem nationwide and not just in Tameside.

But it has become the third most commonly used drug among 16 to 24-year-olds in England.

Dr Richard Bircher 

Tameside GP Dr Richard Bircher explained: “When you inhale it, it makes you go very dizzy and you get a bit of a high from it, which normally lasts about a minute to two minutes.

“But like any chemical that makes you dizzy or lose concentration it can have adverse affects. Firstly you can just fall over taking it and hurt yourself, but you can also get quite paranoid, and suffer intense paranoia.”

Taking a lot of the chemical can in extreme cases cause paralysis, anaemia and nerve damage. As a keen cyclist, Dr Bircher added the silver cannisters littered about are a hazard and can easily throw you off your bike.

You can hear more from Dr Bircher and Sgt Chris Antoniou on this subject on The Reporter Show on Tameside Radio 103.6FM at 7pm tonight (Thursday). 

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