THREE youths were detained by police after an incident at a war memorial.

North Yorkshire Police say that yesterday evening (September 2), they received reports of three youths congregating at the York city war memorial.

They say the youths were climbing up the memorial and shouting and gesticulating at passers by.

A spokesman for the force said: "York police responded quickly to the incident, with help from City of York Council CCTV.

"CCTV operators monitored the situation throughout due to the high risk of injury or damage that may be caused to the memorial.

"The youths on arrival of the officers, ran onto the Bar Walls. All three youths were safely detained by officers.

"No other offences were identified during this investigation, no damage has been identified and there appears to have been no physical altercation between the group and any members of the public. All three were collected by parents and warned about their future behaviour.

"We would like to ask all parents to know where your children are. This incident could have become very serious resulting in a police conviction, serious injury or even worse.

"Our war memorial is a place of remembrance and is for reflection only."