Hundreds of drunk or unruly teens tie up police resources in Port Fairy

It has overshadowed the success of the police's new liquor accord which ensured there were no arrests or assaults at licensed venues in the town that catered for 1200 adults on Saturday night.

Sergeant David Walkley, who is in charge of Port Fairy police station, said officers had to do hours of over time to deal with up to 500 teenagers aged between 13 and 16 who were lingering in the street causing issues.

He said while there were some parents down the street attempting to supervise their children, the majority weren't.

"The number of children between 13 and 16 that were drunk, in possession of alcohol and consuming alcohol in the Port Fairy CBD was alarming," Sergeant Walkley said.

"The total lack of concern by parents about the behaviour of their teenage children is very worrying."

Sergeant Walkley said at 9.30pm there were about 500 youths congregating in the vicinity of Sackville and Bank streets, with the majority unsupervised and consuming alcohol.

By 4am, the area was littered with broken glass, smashed street signs, damaged trees, plants, fences and vehicles.

Sergeant Walkley said it was a total contrast to the orderly manner the adults left the licensed premises at closing time and returned to their accommodation.

He said the liquor accord that had been introduced 12 months ago had meant venues had adequate measures to be able to self-manage and regulate patrons.

"There were no reported issues in any of the licensed premises even though we had in excess of 1200 people that were celebrating and drinking. That's awesome," he said.

"Credit where credit is due."

But Sergeant Walkey said the behaviour of the teenagers on the street tied up police resources in that location for most of the night.

"I'm at a loss. We had six police in that area for the entire time. Every time we'd go to leave something would happen," he said.

"We're not babysitters. Police are not babysitters for your drunk teenage kids that are let loose on the streets in Port Fairy.

"If you've got teenage kids, they should not be down the street at one or two in the morning drinking or in possession of alcohol."

The town has had a major influx of tourist this summer with people who would usually head north, heading south because of the flooding.

Sergeant Walkley said the families that were trying to enjoy music on the Civic Green were disgusted by the behaviour of the youths.

He said he didn't know what the answer to the issue was but the first step would be for parents to take responsibility for their own kids.

"That's what I'm most disappointed about," he said.

Sergeant Walkley said it was not the first year they had had issues with teenagers. "But it's wearing thin. It was particularly bad this year," he said.

Police will look at plans to address the issue in the future, whether that be bringing extra resources from Melbourne such as the horses or a zero-tolerance approach where infringements were issued to every person.

A number of infringement notices were issued to under-aged youths in possession of alcohol at the weekend, including a youth who damaged a fence in front of officers.

A 28-year-old man was arrested just before 2am for drunk and disorderly behaviour when he removed his shirt and challenged people to a fight, including police

"It didn't end well for him. He finished up lodged in the cells in Warrnambool," Sergeant Walkley said.

He said police really want people to enjoy celebrating in Port Fairy but they wanted it to be safe and inclusive for everyone.

"We don't want this sort of behaviour to ruin it for everyone else," he said.

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