We understand that some children need adventure in their lives and  its a nice day to be out and about but a derelict church is not a safe place to spend time.

A member of the public called us because they could hear things being smashed up in the church. On arrival officers could also hear noises suggesting glass was being smashed. It was not easy to get in but when we did we found three young teen-agers, all of whom denied causing any damage, suggesting it was like that when they got there! Parents were called who arrived quickly and collected their children.

No shade on the parents here, this was entirely down to the poor decisions made by the children.

The site is fully fenced off, some areas have barbed wire, the building is mostly boarded up and as you can see from the photo the inside is full of hazards.  This sort of a building would be a massive draw for some children but for the same reasons it is one that they should absolutely stay away from.

PARENTS - please talk to your children and encourage them to stay out of danger (you probably have already)
CHILDREN - stay out of these places (tetanus, glass cuts or death are not as cool as you think)
OWNERS OF DERELICT BUILDINGS - Please remember your ongoing responsibility to keep your buildings secure.

There is about 100 other, much safer things to do in Gosport.

That's about it really, I know some will say 'that's what we did when we were kids' or 'kids will be kids' but we've no interest in getting into that sort of a conversation.

Please be assured that we will be following up this situation, all the parents have given their support, and there will be some follow up work done with these youths. 👍🏽