Call for extra police in Bangor amid fears Bank Holiday Weekend will bring repeat of recent street violence

The area’s council is writing to the chief constable asking for more bobbies on the beat, in particular around the city’s main train station as day-trippers flock to the seaside in good weather.

It follows from last Saturday evening’s trouble, which saw gangs of teenagers brawling on one of the city’s piers, as well as running in front of traffic on a main road and what police described as “large groups of youths congregating at the train station”. The incidents, which came as hot and sunny weekend weather saw people flock to Bangor, left four young people hospitalised.

The PSNI has said it will have step up patrols over the Bank Holiday weekend, pledging to seize alcohol from minors while having “additional officers and patrols in place across transport hubs, beaches, parks and open spaces”.

At a city council meeting on Wednesday night, politicians insisted action is needed on Bangor’s streets – both over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, and over the coming summer months.

And that, they argued, means extra police are needed to tackle trouble before it starts.

The DUP’s Alistair Cathcart said the area should be “a destination of choice” for sun-seekers, but is turning into “a destination for those partaking in underage drinking and anti-social behaviour”.

Stating it’s a “continued pattern” that a lot of troublemakers travel into the city from outside Bangor, he added last weekend police had to bring in reinforcements from other areas.

“The scale of it shows we need more officers here on the ground,” he said. “When they got support from other districts later on in the evening, the trouble disappeared.”

The city’s train station was highlighted as a potential hotspot that needs officers out in force, not least as some of Translink’s methods to prevent trouble elsewhere on the north coast of Co Down aren’t workable in Bangor.

Helen’s Bay, a couple of miles away, has been the scene of disorder in the past as its large beach brings people in from Belfast and further afield. When the situation has been especially bad there, one Translink tactic has been to shut its station so trains don’t stop; as the DUP’s Jennifer Gilmour pointed out, that’s not possible in Bangor as its city centre station is the end of the line.

Mayor Gillian McCollum revealed one her Alliance colleagues, Rosie Quinn, was on a train to Bangor at 5pm last Saturday and “had the company of around 80 12-to-13-year-olds, laden down with alcohol, who quite simply terrified the passengers.”

The PSNI stated reports of anti-social behaviour are taken seriously, the force’s Inspector Youle saying: “The safety of local communities is paramount.

“We would ask parents and guardians to speak to their young people and know where they are, to prevent them from engaging in behaviour which could result in injury or a criminal record.

“It is vital we work together to promote responsible behaviour and support a safe environment for everyone.”