WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE
FIRST MINISTER WARNS LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS COULD STAY IF ‘BRAWLS’ AND MASS GATHERINGS AT SOUTH WALES BEACHES CONTINUE
WALES will pause relaxing more coronavirus restrictions if the country witnesses further scenes of disorder at beaches, the First Minister has warned.
Mark Drakeford was speaking following reports of large gatherings and mass brawls at Ogmore Beach in the Vale of Glamorgan on Thursday evening.
Yesterday, Mr Drakeford wrote on Twitter: “We will not be able to continue easing restrictions if scenes like last night continue to happen.
“They threaten the health of people in Wales and undermine the sacrifices the majority of people have made during this ongoing crisis.”
Gathering in large groups is currently banned, while the country still has social distancing and a five-mile travel limit in place, with the restriction on travel due to end on July 6.
There were also reports on Thursday of crowds partying on beaches in Barry Island and Swansea, with dispersal orders in place for beaches in the latter following complaints of antisocial behaviour and congregating.
Mr Drakeford said later he did not want the “ugly actions of a relatively small group” to overshadow the efforts of the public to keep to the regulations, but repeated scenes would “impact” the ability to lift further measures.
He told the Welsh Government’s daily press briefing in Cardiff: “Last night’s pictures are a reminder of what happens when things go wrong. And we all have to make sure that doesn’t reoccur again.”
Mr Drakeford said he did not believe the planned reopening of the tourism industry from July 9 would result in holiday spots being overrun with visitors, as it would be restricted to those providing self-contained accommodation.
South Wales Police said they were investigating “large-scale disorder” at the beach in Ogmore-by-Sea at around 8pm on Thursday, where two men in their twenties were detained. Detective Chief Inspector Tom Moore said: “The scenes at Ogmore-by-Sea were totally unacceptable and the main focus of our investigation will be to identify those who were responsible.
“We believe that a large number of youths have travelled to the area from various areas of South Wales to become involved in serious, violent disorder.
“I am appealing to anyone who can assist our investigation to contact us so we can identify and take action against those involved.
“The local community can also be assured that we will be working with partner agencies and doing everything we can to ensure there is no repeat of this behaviour.”
Vale of Glamorgan council said it closed the beach’s car park following the violent clashes.
People living nearby said an elderly woman had to wait five hours for an ambulance because of the carnage caused by “idiots” attending the massive beach party. Hundreds turned up at Ogmore-by-Sea on what was the hottest day of the year. As well as flagrantly ignoring lockdown rules, videos posted on social media appearing to feature violent scenes left people stunned and angry. Anne Evans, 63, described the behavior as a “disgrace”. “It was absolutely chaotic,” she said.
“Everybody was parking on the double yellow lines. The car park was full from early in the day. The kids were coming down in their tribes.
“There was one person waiting for an ambulance for five hours – that was a resident – they needed to go to hospital and they couldn’t get there (because of this gathering).”
Anne said the gathering consisted of people in their late teens and early 20s.
It had been anticipated because people were planning it on Facebook – but no-one expected it to turn out like it did.
She described some of the people at the event as being “high and drunk” and said one person was glassed in the face.
Anne added: “Barbecues were left on the beach for the tide to wash up.
“My 87-year-old mother was down cleaning the beach this morning with people.
“One man from the Rhondda was seen helping people because he had seen people come from the Rhondda, and he was embarrassed so he came to help clean up.
“It was thousands – we are talking a lot of kids.
“I have been here eight years and have never seen anything as bad – lockdown has probably had an effect in a lot of it.”
Another resident, who asked not to be named, also raised issues with the parking.
She said: “A lot of this road was full – emergency services wouldn’t get through.
“There was a fire here a few years ago and two houses were gutted – if that happened you wouldn’t get through.
“It’s quite frightening.
“We know they are drinking because
We will not be able to continue easing restrictions if scenes like last night continue to happen.
First Minister Mark Drakeford
we see them carrying booze and they come back after having drinks.
“The rubbish we find – it’s underwear and a lot of drink crates.
“A lot of people are still in lockdown.”
Iestyn Lewis, 21, has been working on a house in the area for around five weeks. He said it was about 8.15pm when he noticed it get bad.
“It was like looking at a festival”, he said.
“It was absolutely unbelievable. “A friend messaged saying there was a massive brawl and people were fighting.
“It was chaotic – it was embarrassing that people came here from all over South Wales.”
Resident David Weller, 62, echoed that view.
He said congestion at the car park was an ongoing problem since lockdown had eased and was stopping people with mobility problems getting down to the seafront.
Anita Davies, 60, said it was a shame to see so many people travel so far when the community have been social distancing so well and sticking to the rules.
“We have been really good about lockdown here,” she said. “We are all still social distancing in this community. We’ve been really good. We are still in a nationwide pandemic.”
Vale of Glamorgan MP Alun Cairns yesterday met with dozens of residents down at the seafront – with many of them voicing their anger as well as asking why the event wasn’t shut down earlier.
One resident told him: “It was quite obvious that there were a number of reports from residents to the police saying, ‘Do you realise how many people are down here – do you realise what’s going to happen?’
“There was no police presence here. If that information had gone to the inspector... then it would have happened. There are things like dispersal orders – why weren’t they used? An inspector can issue them.
“This would not have happened if the police came down here earlier.”
South Wales Police have been approached for comment.