Residents of Cornish seaside village Polzeath are preparing to take drastic action to tackle anti-social behaviour from private schoolchilden this summer, The Guradian has reported.

Action is being taken following a two-day 10pm curfew imposed by police this time last year after hundreds of drunken youngsters indulged in hooliganism and left broken glass all over the beach.

Beach bonfires were build using stolen benches, fences and shed doors and emergency life-saving equipment was vandalised.

This summer, a towering CCTV camera is being installed to monitor the beach, and rechargeable floodlights have been put in place.

Former police officer and Polzeath’s community-funded beach ranger Andy Stewart told The Guardian: “We are saying, ‘yes, come and party’, but at 1am the floodlights will be on the beach so they can see the mess.”

Stewart added that many parents don’t realise how their children are behaving in Polzeath: “They think they are sending their kids to this utopia, where they are sitting on the beach, playing guitar and swapping phone numbers. They don’t realise there is excessive drinking, cocaine, nitrous oxide, underage sex and big fires.”