Police ask parents to come and get children

POLICE in Carmarthenshire urged parents to come and pick up their children after a large number of youths congregated in a beachside area causing anti-social behaviour.

Officers were called to Burry Port on Friday evening to deal with “gatherings of youths” and seized alcohol from some of those present. This was despite a Section 34 order being made, giving police the power to bar people from certain areas for 48 hours if they suspect they are likely to commit antisocial behaviour.

Police also warned that those present could be removed from the area and even arrested, and called on parents to collect their children to make sure they were safe and to “prevent disorder”.

It is not the first time that gatherings of youths have caused issues in Burry Port – located between the larger towns of Llanelli and Carmarthen. At the end of last month, several arrests were made after around 100 youths abused police at the local train station. On that evening – Friday, May 28 – a fight also broke out on a train heading to nearby Llanelli.

Anti-social behaviour is reported to be a recurring problem in Burry Port, which is thought to attract crowds given its close proximity to the coast and the fact that it has a train station in the centre of town, making it very accessible from east and west.

The town’s mayor, Michael Theodoulou, shared his frustrations with the situation earlier this month.

“The town council is very aware of what is going on and is very concerned,” he said. “One area of growing concern is that when youths do come to Burry Port, many of them end up congregating and drinking on the rocks at the local beach.

“Having been locked down for such a long period, people are going to grab at freedom and they’re not going to think about their health other people’s health.”