For Anna Tooke the weekend's mayhem was the last straw, and she has now started a petition to get North Tyneside Council to make the borough's beaches Alcohol Exclusion Zones.

"Anyone who was at Cullercoats beach or who passed through would have been shocked by what they saw at the weekend, I would be surprised if they came back," she said.

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"We live in such a nice part of the country where we want to be able to enjoy our beaches, but as soon as the sun comes out, so do all the drunken teenagers who wreak havoc.

"I've been told that someone asked for there to be alcohol exclusion areas on the beach before but was told it couldn't happen because that would discriminate against families who wanted to enjoy a bottle of wine with a picnic.

"I'm sorry, but I have a family and not once have I wanted to have a bottle of wine on the beach with a picnic.

"If the beaches in North Tyneside were made alcohol exclusion zones then I think it would solve a lot of the problems."

One resident from Cranbourne Grove told newsguardian.co.uk that the warm weather always spells trouble with under-age drinkers.

"We've barely had three days of sunshine and already Cullercoats is being besieged by drunken under-age youths," he said.

"Every evening when the sun is shining you can guarantee that there will be groups of under-age youths heading down to Cullercoats armed with their six pack of cheap beer and bottles of cider.

"At the weekend I had to weave through drunken youngsters openly drinking at Cullercoats Metro station and screaming foul-mouthed abuse at each other.

"One police officer I spoke to admitted that he would never consider bringing his own family to Cullercoats at any time during the summer because of the number of youths from other areas who congregate and make it a pretty unpleasant place to visit never mind live."

A spokesperson for North Tyneside Council said: "We are looking to extend alcohol exclusion zones to take into account the issues across the borough where clearly they need addressing.

"This is part of our on-going commitment to be on the side of residents and use all our powers to work with the police to deal with all aspects of anti-social behaviour."

Alcohol exclusion zones apply in the following areas:

• Churchill Playing Fields


• The Links


• Promenade


• Park Road


• Park Avenue


• Laburnum Avenue


• Jesmond Terrace


• Clifton Terrace


• Victoria Terrace


• Trewitt Road


• Albany Gardens


• Algernon Place


• Windsor Crescent


• Front Street


• Simpson Street


• Dove Court


• Dove Row


• John Street


• Station Road


• Beverley Terrace


• Hartley Avenue


• Fern Avenue


• West View


• Marden Road


• Whitley Road


• Cambridge Avenue


• York Road


• Oxford Street


• North Parade


• South Parade


• Esplanade


• Esplanade Place


• Linden Terrace


• Percy Road


• Victoria Avenue


• Watts Slope


• All play areas, public parks and cemeteries

The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 came into force on the September 1, 2001 which provides local authorities with an adoptive power to restrict anti-social public drinking by designating specified areas in which Police are provided with enabling powers to enforce restrictions on public drinking.

The petition is available to sign now in shops along the seafront and in Cullercoats Community Centre.