Mankini ban sends crime tumbling in Newquay

Police and residents in the seaside town of Newquay are celebrating a boom in business and a drop in crime due to a ban on mankinis and other offensive items of clothing.

Mankinis – the thong-like swimming costumes popularised in the comedy film Borat – were banned more than five years ago after local residents complained about surging levels of antisocial behaviour.

A crackdown on excessive drinking, pubic disorder and inappropriate items of clothing has allowed the holiday town to shed its "wild west" image as a haven hen and stag parties, police told The Guardian.

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"Families seem to be coming here a lot more, we have a surf culture, and we have still got a great night-time economy," said Devon and Cornwall police inspector Dave Meredith. "We welcome and embrace that, but it is far more responsible."

The zero-tolerance approach is part of the award-winning Newquay Safe campaign which was launched in 2009 after hundreds of local residents and business owners marched to "take back their town" from drunken revellers.

Newquay's mayor David Sleeman said the resort is "unrecognisable" now. "I remember back in the 2000s you couldn't walk the streets on a Saturday without seeing someone wearing a mankini or what have you," he said.

Police officers are still occasionally forced to seize risqué fancy dress items, or tell people to go home and change."[But] The guesthouses and campsites are pretty good at warning their guests about what's acceptable," said Sleeman. "I think we have turned the corner here."