PARENTS in Thornbury are being warned not to supply their underage children with alcohol or face the consequences.

Police in the town have said they have received several reports from members of the public during the last few weeks who claim they have witnessed parents dropping their children off and giving them bottles and cans of alcohol.

PC Neil Whyman, of Thornbury Police Station, said: "This is very serious and not something we are going to take lightly.

"During the last month we have had phone calls from residents saying they have seen teenagers dropped off by adults in areas of the town and then handed bottles of alcohol by them."

According to reports, the children have been dropped off during the early evening on the High Street and in The Close before heading for the Mundy Playing Fields, a location which has become a regular scene of anti-social behaviour.

"Supplying alcohol to juveniles is a very serious offence and we would ask parents to stop doing it because if they are caught they will be dealt with very severely.

"There are a number of continuing issues in Thornbury, particularly during the long summer nights, and we would ask that parents in the town start to take more responsibility for their children. They need to know where they are and what they are up to," said PC Whyman.

Police in Thornbury are currently collecting evidence to get a gating order for the Mundy Playing Fields, which would close the park area off to members of the public at night. The move comes after teenagers starting using the playing fields as an area to congregate late at night.

Residents living near the Mundy Playing Fields have said that the area has become the scene of underage drinking, vandalism and nuisance behaviour during the summer months.