Tourists flocking to Skegness - many of them from Nottinghamshire - are being warned that the popular resort is targeted by drug dealers during the summer months. Excessive drinking and domestic abuse were also highlighted by the area's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).
Marc Jones, Lincolnshire PCC, said an added police presence keeps the coastal town safe despite more drug dealers operating in the area. Two Road Policing Units have recently been formed to tackle the issue of criminals entering Lincolnshire from other areas of the country. Mr Jones said the officers would be working in Skegness over the summer.
He said: "In certain areas around the country you get a massive increase in population during the summer months, and Skegness is one of those. Along with extra people comes extra challenge those communities bring.
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"One of those is when people are coming for their leisure time, they will drink, sometimes excessively; they will commit domestic abuse against their partners; they will take drugs. All those societal things that happen throughout the year will happen [during summer in Skegness] because there are more people.
"If you put a quarter of a million more people into any part of the county it would happen. The reality is if you are looking to supply drugs nationally, there are certain places in the summer months where you would think, 'actually there's an extra trade there'.
"And so places like Skegness, but certainly not exclusively Skegness, becomes a target for those who would like to supply drugs to those holidaymakers." Lincolnshire Police officers are therefore more vigilant and more present on the East Coast during the summer months, according to the PCC.
Mr Jones said there was a "well-oiled machine" designed to keep Skegness safe during the summer and does not think it makes the town more dangerous. He added the increased police presence means there is more crime reported generally.
He said "there will always be a combination of both" locals and people coming from other areas of the county supplies drugs during the summer months. Mr Jones said: "None of this is new.
"None of this is unknown to the police and that's why, obviously, they put strategies and plans in place every year to get ahead of it, make arrests of suppliers and people up the chain to make drugs less available especially during the summer months because that is a peak for those would-be dealers."
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