Is it still an offence to play football in the street? Do we have to put up with abusive language from the children?
It’s an offence to play football in the street under the Highways Act 1980, so if you can’t get the parents of the children to make them play elsewhere you should discuss the problem with your community policeman. It’s difficult to make children accountable for any damage they cause to cars and the like; even if they had any money, it’s unlikely that a court would find a child 16 or under to be negligent. I take it the foul language is connected with your attempts to stop the children playing football, so if you can stop the one you may stop the other. If the children are generally abusive your only recourse is to the parents.