The first free Saturday Screen cinema event is due to take place for young people in Royston, as part of a 'prevention first' initiative for tackling crime.

This will be the second project set up by Sergeant Jon Vine and his team of Neighbourhood Officers - aimed at getting young people off the streets.

He said: "Some of the low-level crime committed by young people in Royston is a result of them having nothing to do and nowhere to go. So they hang around on the streets, often being quite noisy and behaving in an anti-social manner.

"Last year I started approaching businesses and venues to see if any of them would be prepared to get involved and help.

"Thanks to funding from The Brian Leslie Racher Charitable Trust and Royston Picture Palace, the new project will be able to offer free monthly cinema screenings for pupils who attend local schools.

"The idea is that this activity is exclusively for school age children, as something they can have as their own - as opposed to being open to the general public."

The first film will be shown on Saturday, November 19, at 2.30pm - and will be Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Officers worked with secondary schools to allocate tickets to more than 125 children aged between 12 and 16, and popcorn will be donated by Tesco and Marks and Spencer.

Royston Picture Palace, located within the town hall, is working with Herts police to offer the free monthly screenings.

Sgt Vine is also responsible for the Thursday Night Project - which sees children enjoying pizza from Wetherspoons and drinks funded by Johnson Matthey at the Limitless Academy of Performing Arts.

The project began in July this year, and could lead to further opportunities for the children in TV and film, theatre and singing.

Sgt Vine said: "The number of reports of ASB has reduced dramatically since we started these projects, so I am keen to get as many as possible up and running.

"I hope more people and organisations will want to get involved with running these clubs and projects as we go forward."