Crackdown on anti-social behaviour at Chippenham car parks

Police in Chippenham are cracking down on anti-social behaviour involving groups of people in the town's car parks. 

Officers have received a growing number of reports from members of the public and local business owners relating to groups of drivers, particularly at various car parks along Bath Road and Hungerdown Lane.

PC Paul Croft, who is leading a week-long operation dedicated to the issue over the summer, said: “We have listened to residents concerns and will be conducting extensive high visibility patrols around the locations which we believe are most affected.

“We know that there are a number of dedicated, law abiding car enthusiasts in our town who do not cause issues within their community, however, there are a small number of individuals who are continuing to meet at various locations late at night and are acting in an anti-social manner, causing criminal damage to some areas and disruption and intimidation to local people.”

Officers will be joined by the Roads Policing Unit and Specials Traffic Unit and will be using their powers under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act, which means that a vehicle can be seized if the driver continues to drive in an anti-social manner likely to “cause alarm, distress or annoyance to members of the public”.

Sgt Jamie Ball said: “Whilst these incidents have been ongoing for years, we know that they can peak during the warmer months, most often between 9pm and midnight. These groups are causing disruption to local people living and working nearby. Not only that, the manner in which some of these people are driving their vehicles is extremely dangerous and could result in serious injury or worse.

“We are committed to creating safer public spaces in our towns and we will continue to target these individuals who are acting in an anti-social manner and causing alarm to others. I hope news of this latest operation will be welcomed by residents most affected by these issues, as well as business owners, who we have been working closely with to come up with a longer term solution.”

If you wish to report concerns relating to anti-social drivers, please call 101.