A local football club have taken the "unprecedented step" of banning unaccompanied children from their ground.
Officials at Prescot Cables FC have said they made a "reluctant decision" which would see all children who are not accompanied by an adult, banned from the club following incidents of anti-social and criminal behaviour. Taking to their website on Thursday, August 4, the club said the decision comes after an incident at the entrance of the ground which saw a club official "threatened with physical assault".
It occurred after a group of youths attending the game had been asked to stop "throwing objects and fighting amongst themselves". In a statement on its website, the club wrote any attending youths need to be under the direct supervision of an adult.
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The statement added: "The club take a zero tolerance approach to any breach of our ground regulations and as a spectator we expect our fans to adhere to requests by club officials, as per our ground regulations. Moreover, we will not tolerate threats of verbal or physical violence against any club volunteer.
"Our volunteers give up their spare time to provide a safe environment for fans, old and young, to enjoy football. After an emergency meeting of the board of directors this evening the club have taken the unprecedented step to ban all U16's that are not accompanied by an adult for the forthcoming FA Cup game against Ashton Athletic on Saturday. All children must stay under the direct supervision of their accompanied adult at all times."
Many people took to social media to say they were "sad" to hear of the decision but "understood" why it had been made. The club will keep the decision under review and confirmed they will "issue a further statement in due course".
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