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Thursday, May 24 2012

England fans to be given sticks of rock to kee them out of trouble

Police issue rockWorld Cup revellers will be offered sticks of rock in the hope it will diffuse any trouble.

Pubs and clubs across Folkestone which are showing matches have been given the red, white and blue sweets.

The word England runs through the middle and each stick has a message like Punch the Air Not Your Mate and Enjoy the Night, Don't Fight, on the outside.

Shaun Taylor, Shepway council's anti-social behaviour manager, said 5,000 sticks had been bought and distributed across the district.

"This was done at the last World Cup four years ago and licensees wanted it back," he said.

"It is aimed at reducing violence and getting people away from flashpoints.

"We hope drinkers will have a laugh with their mates over the messages as they leave the pubs and clubs so it will take away any emotion.

"It is a light-hearted approach and there was a good feedback last time."

Money for the rock came from the Home Office.

Read all our coverage of how the World Cup is going down in Kent here.

Support our boys in South Africa by downloading our free World Cup poster here.

Tuesday, June 08 2010

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  • Anon2 wrote:

    Are you kidding me? Sticks if rock if the national side do badly at a match. Have you seen a public house full of intoxicated disappointed punters. The sticks of rock will only serve as missiles and in turn the local police will be unable to police the crowds due to having to attend 100's of anti-social priority calls.
    Better off handing out oversized pink foam boxing gloves. That way punters can let of steam without causing £1000's worth of damage to property or each other. There wouldn't be any calls to the police about anti-social behaviour. The public would be laughing too much at 2 skinheadded, tattoo'd thugs going at each other with big, pink, foam gloves. Inflatable sumo suits are another good idea.

    09 Jun 2010 10:44 AM

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  • Anon wrote:

    I think it's a great idea.
    Although if the home office are paying for it and not the area police can we have it in my area too? Seems a bit unfair that just one part of Kent will get the special treatment.

    08 Jun 2010 4:37 PM

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  • John wrote:

    Yeah Great Idea now they have something to throw
    God who thinks of this rubbish some 50k + a year tosspot

    08 Jun 2010 3:18 PM

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  • Desiren wrote:

    Great idea, but why is the Home Office paying for this?

    Surely the licencees should be clubbing together to pay for these, as stated in the report they wanted them back.

    5,000 diddy sticks of rock can't cost that much when these pubs will make a fortune in extra takings during the World Cup.

    08 Jun 2010 10:27 AM

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