The conflict between rowdy daytrippers and Ilkley residents who want to keep their favourite riverside areas litter-free and serene has still not quite died down.

Since police made patrols of Riverside Walk and Denton Road one of their priorities, and spoke directly to five youths accused of behaving badly, things do seem to have quietened down and got a bit tidier along the banks of the Wharfe in Ilkley.

Whether this is because police and the parks department are paying more attention to the area, or simply coincidence, remains to be seen. However, concerns of residents remain while there is any threat of warm weather and beautiful surroundings bringing crowds into town again this summer.

There is one school of thought that perhaps rowdy behaviour down by the river isn’t exactly a new thing in town, just something that hasn’t happened recently because of the past two dull and damp summers.

Certainly, concerns have been raised before about riverbank rowdyism, ranging from casual vandalism to people tearing down wooden fences to fuel their barbecues.

There was a debate about policing the antics of both visitors and over-exuberant locals well before this summer – resulting in measures such as the Designated Public Places Order for the town centre, plus regular detours by police officers into the grounds of Ilkley Lido. It will be interesting to hear what the longer-term solutions police say they are working on will be.

Short of a police presence worthy of a visit by the President of the United States, or intensively monitored CCTV, there seems little else a confirmed tourist town can do to stop some level of disturbance associated with people visiting.

Actual law-breaking and anti-social drinking, few would argue, can and must be dealt with. As for noisy crowds and the less harmful sort of rowdy behaviour, people offended by it can only wish for bad weather, or take a deep breath and prepare for the flood of tourists in the same way as at least some of the natives of Blackpool or Skegness.