Police fear the problem of rowdy youths causing mayhem in Carlisle city centre may get worse over the summer.

Patrols are being stepped up on Scotch Street as the school holidays start.

The News & Star 's sister paper, The Cumberland News , exclusively revealed two months ago how gangs of up to 100 teenagers were arranging to meet on the street – and daring each other to challenges organised through Facebook.

Inspector Stephen Greenway said: “I fear that the situation will get worse over the summer given the fact that youngsters have a lot more time on their hands.

“We will be stepping up patrols.

“We are still experiencing the same issues.”

Police launched Operation Orion to crack down on youths who were often seen running in and out of some of the city centre hotels. They were also reportedly throwing food, jumping over the counter and running around the kitchen in the city centre branch of McDonald’s.

Some of the youngsters are reported to have been rude and abusive to staff and customers.

Police said the youngsters congregated between 4pm and 10pm and at weekends.

Insp Greenway said: “We are still working with the council, residents that live in The Lanes, the Lanes security team and management and McDonald’s.

“We have a meeting next week to discuss the way forward.”

He added: “What’s happening in Carlisle could happen anywhere in the country. We’ve been consulting with our sister forces to see how they deal with it.

“There is lots of graft going on with Operation Orion and we are increasing our staffing for it.”

Police say the teenagers start off in small groups of between four and five friends and then meet up with others to form a huge group.

They have increased their presence of uniformed and non-uniformed officers.

The children come from across the city, with some travelling from Annan.

A spokeswoman for McDonald’s said at the time the trouble first emerged: “We offer our full support to the local police.”

Anyone experiencing problems should contact police on 101.