Police plan to tackle huge supermarket ‘car meets’

POLICE in Cardiff are planning to work closely with supermarkets after more than 700 gathered at two “car meets” in the city in one week.

They want to prevent similar large-scale gatherings being repeated following complaints from residents in Pengam Green and Cardiff Bay.

On Sunday, officers were called to Pengam Green where around 300 cars had gathered in the Tesco car park and nearby residential streets resulting in complaints of antisocial behaviour.

A spokeswoman for South Wales Police said the majority of attendees were well-behaved and all cars had left the area by around 10.45pm. Up to 15 people received section 59 warnings to leave.

Gary Bennett, who lives near the store, said there were “hundreds of people and cars”.

He said it was the first time he and his neighbours had experienced this but there were concerns about cars parked on bends, filling the streets around the car park and parked in front of residents’ driveways.

The previous Sunday, around 400 cars gathered in the car park of

Asda in the Cardiff Bay Retail Park.

Officers say they will now be working closely with local supermarkets to ensure security patrols are in place and measures are in place to ensure access to sites is prevented when the supermarkets are closed.

The spokeswoman added: “This partnership approach has been successful in other parts of South Wales, including the retail park in Talbot Green, and we look forward to working with all parties to find a peaceful solution for the rest of the summer.

“Sometimes crime and antisocial behaviour being discussed on social media hasn’t been reported to the police. If an incident happens or if you have information about planned large gatherings, please get in touch.”

Similar meets have taken place in Newport recently, and one of the organisers has spoken out against the few troublemakers in the group.

Elsewhere, a huge car meet in Manchester caused congestion on the M60 over the weekend. ■■Anyone with information can email publicservicecentre@southwales.pnn.police.uk, or call 101.