Children as young as 11 banned from UK shopping centre without an adult

Andy Wells
·Freelance Writer
Updated ·2 min read
1
Bromley town centre on a busy summer day. Shows High Street entrance to The Glades Shopping Mall.
Children are not permitted to enter The Glades shopping centre in Bromley without an adult. (Alamy)

Students at a school in London have been told they are not permitted to enter a local shopping centre without an adult over the next two days.

As pupils get ready to finish school for the summer holidays, strict new rules are in place at The Glades in Bromley that mean children as young as 11 will not be allowed to enter unless accompanied by an adult.

However, parents of students at Ravens Wood school have been told that the rule – which was set to be implemented on Friday, 21 July – is now in place one day early.

The decision follows an incident at the end of the spring term in April which saw four police officers injured while breaking up a large gathering of youths at the shopping centre.

The email, seen by Yahoo News, says: “Further to our email on Monday 17 July, our police liaison team have informed us that students are not to go to The Glades Shopping Centre this afternoon (Thursday 20th July) and they will not be allowed to enter the Shopping Centre without an adult.

“This is in addition to the advice regarding tomorrow.”

The Met Police previously announced the measure, which also included a ban on face coverings – such as balaclavas and “inappropriate masks”.

Elmfield Road entrance to The Glades shopping centre in Bromley town centre London, UK.
Four police officers were injured while breaking up a large gathering of youths at The Glades in April. (Getty)

The force said that extra security would be on hand to make sure the rules were being enforced.

In April, officers were called to The Glades shortly after 3pm after young people were reported to be behaving in an antisocial manner and refusing to disperse.

Five youths were arrested for assault on police and affray while another was arrested for breaching a dispersal order.

Police said at the time they “anticipated that incidents involving violence may take place”.

A Met Police spokesperson told Yahoo News UK the decision to implement the rule was made by The Glades, who confirmed to Yahoo News UK that the centre agreed with Bromley Safer School Policing Team to limit entry to all school children on the last day of each school term.

A spokesperson added: “This decision was made to discourage large groups of school children congregating at The Glades and potentially impacting on our shopper’s experience.”

Yahoo News UK has contacted Ravens Wood and Bromley Council for comment.