Boy racers disturb sleepless residents
FRUSTRATED residents have been suffering sleepless nights because scores of boy racers are targeting areas of Carmarthenshire.
As many as 40 cars have been spotted revving up at Llanelli’s North Dock – leading some neighbours to mistake the loud sound of car exhausts for fireworks being set off.
The problem has sparked a wave of complaints as the boy racers have moved away from the Tesco and B&Q areas in Parc Trostre to the beach.
The issue has now got so bad that talks have been held with Dyfedpowys Police Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn. And it’s not just happening in west Wales – in Cardiff a mass gathering of youths took over Newport Road car park in Cardiff, with cars revving up and down the road.
John Prosser, of Bigyn Positive Action Group, said: “All these boy racers are affecting hundreds of people on a nightly basis. People can’t sleep because of the noise. It’s not just one or two cars, they turn up in their scores. There can be 30 or 40 cars in one night – it’s like a car meet.
“We were getting reports of firework displays but they were exhausts. They have loud exhausts and it’s bad when they are there at 9pm and 10pm.
“It’s an ongoing issue. We get loads and loads of complaints about them all congregating in the car park next to the Discovery Centre building. People are using the car park to drift and drive and the speed humps are a target for them – it’s getting worse instead of better. It’s not just boys who are racing around in their souped-up cars either. There are girls who do it as well, and they are not all young.”
Mr Prosser added: “We are looking to reconfigure the road as we can’t put a gate on North Dock. The police have been doing some very good schemes, as there was a car that hit speeds of 88mph along the coast road.
“The problem needs a multi-agency approach and Dafydd Llywelyn attended a recent meeting with the police, myself and Nia Griffith MP.”
Meanwhile, police have also been busy tackling anti-social behaviour in Carmarthen.
On Sunday evening, officers dealt with a gathering of vehicles in a car park in the Pensarn area of the town. A number of prohibition orders were placed on cars that were either “poorly maintained or modified”.
One male was arrested on suspicion of drug-driving, while another was found in possession of drugs.
Police decided to clamp down after complaints from residents about gatherings in the area, predominantly in Carmarthen’s Matalan store car park. Residents have long complained about noise pollution in the area, which is close to the residential spots of Llangunnor and Tregunnor.
A Dyfed-powys Police spokesman said: “On Sunday, June 27, officers from Carmarthen’s Neighbourhood Policing Teams and Carmarthenshire’s
Roads Policing Unit conducted a joint operation with the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency to target vehicle related anti-social behaviour in the Pensarn area of Carmarthen.
“During the operation, which had the specific focus on the Matalan car park at Stephen’s Way, a number of offences were identified and dealt with appropriately by the issuing of an immediate prohibition order on a vehicle which was classified as being unroadworthy. There was a further six delayed prohibitions for various construction and vehicle use offences and two inspection notices were also issued. One male was arrested on suspicion of drug-driving and another male will be dealt with for an offence of possession of Class B Drugs.
“There are arrangements in place to continue with the joint operations to continue to target this issue.”