ARMED police were forced to draw Taser stun guns while arresting a teenage girl at Poole’s Dolphin Shopping Centre at the weekend.

Officers were called to reports of antisocial behaviour involving a group of youths, with one of them waving a hypodermic needle around and threatening shoppers.

Centre security had attended but the youth with the needle refused to drop it.

Dorset Police arrived, just before 5.10pm on Sunday, and they detained a girl nearby a short while later.

It was during this arrest that armed police drew their Tasers, but they were not discharged.

One Dolphin Shopping Centre worker, who asked not to be named, said: “A girl was chasing security and other children with a dirty needle she had found on the floor, and refused to drop it when being chased by the armed police.

“Families had to walk by in fear – she was threatening people with it.

“The group, whom the girl was with, were meanwhile lighting pieces of paper on fire.

“Last week someone beat up one of my staff members and his girlfriend for no reason.

“The antisocial behaviour needs to be brought to the attention of the parents.

“It is disgusting, who owns these children?”

Meanwhile, a Dorset Police spokesman confirmed: “A 14-year-old girl from Bournemouth was arrested on suspicion of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of or provoke unlawful violence and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

“She has been released under investigation as enquiries continue.”

John Grinnell, manager of the Dolphin Shopping Centre, said: “Our security staff were present during the incident and called the police to the scene straight away.

“A young lady has since been arrested and the police are dealing with the matter.

“We’d like to reassure our customers that the Dolphin has a strong security team in place at the centre, who are fully operational throughout our opening hours.

“We take incidents like this very seriously and operate a zero per cent tolerance approach.

“The Dolphin Shopping Centre will continue to work with the council and the police to ensure the ongoing safety of all our customers.”

This is just the latest incident to affect the area in and around Poole Bus Station.

Earlier this year, after figures showed an average of one crime every day reported at the bus station, councillors even conceded the anti-social behaviour issues had started to affect footfall in the area, with many residents opting against travelling into town on the buses.

BCP Council is planning to redesign the bus station and Dorset Police have launched targeted patrols of the area.