POLICE have vowed to keep monitoring a county beauty spot that has been used by youngsters for large parties.

About 200 young people gathered at John Muir Country Park, near Dunbar, last month to celebrate the end of their exams.

Police have repeatedly carried out patrols at Bullet Hill after concerns at public meetings about underage drinking and the flouting of local bylaws involving drinking in a public place.

There were also fears that the isolated location would make it difficult for emergency services to access the scene quickly if they were required.

Constable Gavin Ross recently gave members of the ward’s Community and Police Partnership (CAPP) meeting an update on the situation.

He said: “We have had three weekends since that party and we are not aware of any youths being out there at Bullet Hill. For this summer, we will keep monitoring it but fingers crossed they don’t get back into the habit of using it.

“We will have to consider how we police it next year.”

The officer told CAPP members he had walked his dogs at the site the day after the large party and was greeted with “a heck of a mess”.

Previously, a letter was sent out to the parents of children of Dunbar Grammar School, along with a copy of the school’s newsletter.

It read: “We all know that some teenagers will explore activities such as drinking alcohol. Having worked in the Dunbar area for a number of years, I am aware of a few rural drinking dens and when on duty on a Friday and Saturday evening, endeavour to check these areas.

“We don’t check these areas or search youths for alcohol just because it’s illegal (by age and also contrary to the local drinking bylaw) but for their safety and to prevent any subsequent drunken criminal or anti-social behaviour, which has a negative impact on our community.

“In the past, most youths we dealt with in such situations were aged about 15 or 16.

“I am not alone in observing that recently and more concerning is that some of the youths involved in such incidents are as young as 12.”

However, the officer stressed to partnership members that it was good news that there had been no incidents for at least three weeks.