UNDER-age drinkers and drug-users are turning cemeteries in Malton and Norton into dens for late-night parties, say civic leaders.

Empty drinks cans, vandalism and, more disturbingly, evidence of drug use, are becoming a recurring problem in both town cemeteries.

The problem has become so bad in recent weeks that town leaders have appealed for the culprits to stop.

Norton town clerk Roger King said empty drink cans and used "spliffs" (cannabis cigarettes) were becoming a regular feature at the Langton Road site.

"On Monday morning we found about 42 empty bottles and cans lying strewn around the graveyard," he said.

"The staff there have found evidence of drugs and also lemonade bottles with tape on the top which indicated glue sniffing.

"It is becoming a real problem, unfortunately there is very little we can do."

He said the only way to stem the problem would be to erect a fence and put up a locked gate.

"This would not be practical because a lot of elderly people use it as a shortcut and it wouldn't be fair on them," he said.

Youngsters are believed to use the cemeteries at night because they are quiet and few people use them at night.

Meanwhile, Malton councillor Chris Harding, who sits on the town's finance committee which oversees the town's cemetery, confirmed there had been similar problems.

"There is more of a problem with vandalism but there is also an issue with drinking and drug taking," he said. "Our staff find all sorts of paraphernalia in the cemetery, but no one ever catches them actually doing it - as a result it's very hard to do anything about it."

Norton Mayor Keith Mennell said he was aware there was a problem with youths using the graveyard and intended to bring the issue up at the next cemetery committee meeting.

"This has been an issue for a while but there is very little we can do about it," he said.

"All we can do is ask them to stop - the cemetery is a place which should be respected, not used for those purposes."

Meanwhile, Mr King explained that a separate problem is school pupils from nearby Norton College dropping litter there.

"They sit in the cemetery at lunch, eating chips from the nearby chip shop and then drop their litter - I have contacted the school about this," he said.

Jill Hodges, headteacher at Norton College, said the litter dropping was an isolated incident.

"We do take cleanliness very seriously and we encourage our students to put their rubbish in the bins," he said.

Updated: 11:03 Tuesday, November 20, 2001