DRUNKEN louts who are smashing shop windows in Amesbury town centre every weekend will not be tolerated any longer, according to the Mayor of Amesbury.

Jan Swindlehurst told the Journal that traders have had their windows smashed nearly every weekend for the past few months by drunken clubbers heading home on Friday and Saturday nights.

In fact, she said it had become such a problem that some people will no longer venture into the town centre late at night.

"People are being put off going into the town because of the behaviour of these men who think it's great fun to come out of the clubs, three sheets to the wind, and smash windows," said Mrs Swindlehurst.

"It's also not fair to the people who just want to have a good time and go home. Be they civilian or military, we will not tolerate this sort of behaviour in Amesbury for much longer."

In a bid to improve the situation, Mrs Swindlehurst said she had spoken to the commanding officer of Bulford, Tidworth and Netheravon garrisons to ask for a greater military police presence at weekends.

"If you are a member of the Armed Forces and you see a Red Cap it has far more bearing on you than if you see a policeman," she said. "But it's not just soldiers who are causing the problems. A lot of the trouble we have is 50:50 soldiers and civilians."

Mrs Swindlehurst said the Ministry of Defence police and Amesbury police did their best to control the situation but as both units were only small they could not always base themselves in the town centre.

"The MoD police have only got ten policemen to cover the whole of Wiltshire. It's the same with Amesbury police - they are doing all they can and we have their assurances that whatever is necessary will be done, but they can only be in one place at a time."

Inspector Tim Richards, of Amesbury police, said it was difficult to maintain a continuous police presence in the town centre at weekends, especially if his men were needed elsewhere.

But he said they were usually there on a Friday and Saturday night until 3am, as were the military police.

"The incidents of criminal damage we get tend to be when the police are absent, for whatever reason, but when they are present it's usually fairly quiet," said Insp Richards.

He added: "The last message I want to go out is that Amesbury is a no-go area. It's not a no-go area - it's policed properly and to the best of our ability.

"Yes, we have had some problems, but they are not insurmountable."