Cops will step up their presence at licenced premises as they look to clamp down on anti-social behaviour in Inverclyde.

Patrols will be carried out to “maximise the safety” of people in an area which saw 3138 disorder incidents in the last year.

The measures will be taken despite a decline of 27.6% on the previous year and figures returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Police have said a spike witnessed in 2020/21 was mainly down to “perceived or actual breaches” of Covid-19 restrictions.

A performance report, which was presented at Thursday’s Police and Fire Scrutiny Committee, cited young people gathering next to shops and supermarkets with longer opening hours or groups loitering while drinking alcohol as the cause of a number of incidents.

With the summer holidays approaching, police have been working to provide support for the night-time economy.

The document also said officers and partners are appealing directly to parents to discourage young people gathering in large groups.

It read: “Many disorder incidents reported in Inverclyde are as a result of groups of young people gathering near to retail/supermarkets who may have longer opening hours and large groups gathering to consume alcohol.

“Overall most youth offenders are aged between 13 and 18 years of age. A significant number of repeat offenders reside or have resided within local children’s units within the division.

“As the holiday period approaches Inverclyde police have been developing our multi-agency youth safeguarding plan to incorporate support for our night-time economy.

“Additional patrols will be conducted around licenced premises in order to maximise the safety to patrons and ensure resources are in the right places at the right time.

“Police and partners are issuing an appeal direct to parents through a dedicated newsletter to highlight safety concerns regarding large gathered groups, anti-social behaviour and provide important information regarding fire and water safety.”

Earlier this year street football sessions were set up aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in sports.

A programme is scheduled to run every Friday evening within the Tesco car park in Port Glasgow as a “diversionary tactic”.

If popular, police have said the initiative can be extended to other areas.