by Craig manning

OPERATION Street Cred - the Wirral police operation aimed at curbing youth disorder in partnership with the Globe - has gone European.

A group of police and youth service workers from the borough went on exchange with a similar group from Bremen in Germany, to learn about each other's problems and how to solve them. And they returned with new ideas about how to combat youth disorder, truancy and how to help young people develop.

The visit, led by John Davies, deputy head of Wirral Council's youth and community service, offered the chance to see a range of differing schemes - including vocational projects, anti-truancy, crime prevention and anti-violence classes. Mr Davies said: "We were pleased to find that there was more in common than expected. Our hosts in Bremen looked after us magnificently, and we're looking forward to developing the relationship further."

Operation Street Cred was launched by Merseyside Police and Wirral Globe in June last year, with the aim of reducing youth disorder rates in Wirral.