Police have been sending Friday night patrols in to Dartmouth following concerns over drunken late-night rowdies.

The move followed complaints about fighting, noise and anti-social behaviour in the market square area of the town – usually on Friday nights.

The issue was raised at a recent meeting of the Dartmouth and Kingswear Police Liaison Group as members of the public called for greater visible policing in the market area on the problem Friday evenings.

The liaison group chairman Colin Campbell said that police had assured the meeting that they were aware of the problem.

Mr Campbell said the concerns centred on Friday evening problems in the Market Square area which, he said, 'broadly seemed to have become a troublesome hot spot on Friday evenings', often caused by people drinking too much.

He said that group members had 'expressed concern about the need to have a visible police presence in the town if they can possibly do it'.

He also pointed out the concerns at the time it took officers to get to Dartmouth from Totnes in the event of a problem.

'The whole system means it can take half an hour to get a police officer here at the best,' he warned.

But he said that the group had been reassured that the public are quick to report any problems and the police respond as quickly as possible. Dartmouth Police Inspector Andy Tomlinson said that police had reacted to concerns following complaints about late-night problems in the town centre and had sent in 'additional resources' to deal with the situation.

'We had some information that there had been disorder and we bolstered our resources for a couple of weeks because we had concerns about what may have gone on.'

He said officers had reported back that Dartmouth Friday night situations had been generally 'good humoured and well behaved'. But he warned that if there were more concerns in the future the police would look at doing the same thing again.

The next Dartmouth and Kingswear Police Liaison Group meeting will be taking place at Dartmouth Police Station on May 30 at 7pm. Mr Campbell pointed out that the aim of the group is to foster good communications between the police and concerned members of the public.

He added: 'The meetings are open to all members of the public and are held at Dartmouth Police Station in an informal and relaxed atmosphere and usually last about 45 minutes.'