Police in Newquay have said a decision to ban mankinis, fake penises and other "inappropriate clothing" from the Cornish resort has helped to significantly reduce anti-social behaviour and recorded crime.

Officers said the town was shedding its reputation as a haven for drunken revellers and stag parties as a result of the zero-tolerance approach to risque fancy dress.

Some visitors to Newquay, including children as young as 15, have been sent home as a result of anti-social behaviour, while older fun-seekers have had skimpy costumes seized by police – including mankinis, a thong-like male bathing costume popularised by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's spoof documentary character Borat.

In an interview marking the end of the summer season, Devon and Cornwall police superintendent, Julie Whitmarsh, said the town had come a long way in the last three years thanks to concerted efforts to help clean up its reputation.

"We have had this consistency of seizing inappropriate items of clothing, sending people home to get changed, and that has worked, it has made a real difference, this 'no-nonsense attitude'," Whitmarsh said.

"Mankini is what we term 'offensive clothing', so we won't accept people wearing them. They are just hideous. Is it just me, but if you were living in Bath, for example, or Bournemouth, is that something you would wear to walk into town on a Saturday afternoon? No.

"They are just revolting, there is nothing pleasant about seeing anybody in a mankini. We have had a real crackdown on the fake penises. And people are getting that message. You look at the images you see of Newquay now, 2009 is three years ago and we are in a very different place."

The tough stance has been part of the award-winning Newquay Safe campaign, which was launched in the summer of 2009 following the deaths of two teenagers after separate, drink-fuelled nights out in the town.

Residents – many of whom were angry at Newquay's apparent descent from a family-friendly holiday destination in the 1970s to its image as a modern-day Mecca for drinkers – marched on the council buildings in an impassioned plea to "take our town back" from the clutches of anti-social tourists.

"There was a lot of anger, that for us was a real turning point and threw it into sharp focus," said Whitmarsh. "It was just the constancy of what was happening, the ongoing situation. I've always been shocked at the number of families that come on holiday but don't all go home as a family. To have that number of incidents was a shock for all of those involved. It was a real catalyst for change."

Newquay Safe drew praise from Home Office ministers for its involvement of residents, businesses and local authorities, and gave birth to a number of initiatives designed to cut crime. Police regularly called parents across Britain to collect their drunken children in the middle of the night, seizing alcohol and, in some cases, banning stag and hen parties from going into the resort.

"I remember one of our PCSOs said a 16-year-old boy had 64 cans of super-strength lager at 2pm," said Whitmarsh. "But the mother had a real go at the police saying they had ruined the boy's fun.

"But it isn't fun if you see the immediate harm a can of super-strength lager can cause a 16-year-old, let alone 64 between five of them. There is an attitude of 'what goes on tour, stays on tour', that that's OK, but it is not."

And Whitmarsh, who has sons aged 14 and 11, said some parents' attitudes have contributed to the problems associated with anti-social behaviour among drunken teenagers.

"You get adults dropping their children off with, literally, a boot full of alcohol, and they say: 'I'd rather know what they are drinking'," she said. "Wait - you think they are going to spread that out over the course of a week? It will be gone in the first 36 hours. It is that whole change in culture with parents that I think has been one of the issues."

Whitmarsh said some parents had contacted police on the assumption that "we are providing a baby-sitting service", while others asked for advice on whether their child was staying in a "decent" area of town.

But officers said the message was finally getting through. Reported crime during the summer season fell by one-fifth this year compared with 2009, while reports of anti-social behaviour dropped from 685 in the summer of 2009 to 286 this season.