Newquay Celebrates Success Of Mankini Ban

Seaside resort Newquay says it is thriving after banning mankinis, the thong-type swimwear made popular by Sasha Baron Cohen's comedy character Borat.

Police and community leaders from the southwest town say the ban has led to less antisocial behaviour which, in turn, means the resort is booming.

In recent years Newquay had become better known as a place for boozy stag and hen parties than happy family holidaymakers.

But now, locals say, it is shedding the "Wild West" image it once had.

The change came after residents protested in 2009 after two teenagers fell separately to their deaths from cliffs during visits to the town.

The deaths were the last in a long line of troubles for exasperated locals.

They formed the Newquay Safe partnership to try to get rid of its increasingly poor reputation and "take back their town" from rampant party-goers.

Things have improved year-on-year since, with crime and antisocial behaviour figures falling.

Since the protests, reports of antisocial behaviour have dropped from 937 in 2009/10 to 485 in 2012/13.

Inspector Dave Meredith, the town's most senior policeman, said: "When you speak to anybody from patrol officers to PCSOs, partners in town, shopkeepers, everybody says Newquay has made a miraculous improvement.

"Did Newquay have a problem with its reputation five years ago? Almost certainly it did.

"Five or six years ago and more, Newquay was a little bit of a Wild West town. It had a bad reputation nationally.

"People expected to come to Newquay to drink a lot, behave irresponsibly; a lot of really young people came to Newquay and knew they had a good chance of getting drunk.

"Certainly we have clamped down on that and the image of Newquay now has certainly curtailed some of that."

Mr Meredith continued: "We have a really robust approach to alcohol-related disorder. That doesn't start when you arrive at a nightclub in Newquay - it starts at the marketing while they're at home.

"It's not completely the opposite now, but the town has successfully evolved into something which has a broader appeal to it."

At its worse, he said, problems would go "right the way through the night".

He said: "It would range from 16 to 18-year-olds mostly, at the younger end of the scale, but I wouldn't put all the blame on them.

"You're going up to 40 and 50-year-olds on stag nights - it was the stag culture of 'do what you like' - it was quite intense."

Resident Dave Sleeman, who helped organise the 2009 protests, is now the town's mayor.

He said: "I remember back in the 2000s you couldn't walk the streets on a Saturday without seeing someone wearing a mankini or what have you.

"But now they're not allowed in Newquay.

"The police will tell them to go home and get changed if they see them wearing one, and the guest houses and camp sites are pretty good at warning their guests about what's acceptable.

"I think we have turned the corner here."