LLANELLI: 428 drink and drug incidents in the town centre in two years, and police want a 24-hour move-on power

Police dealt with 428 drink and drug-related crimes and incidents in Llanelli town centre in two years, about 18 a month.

Street drinking, people collapsed or lying in the road, overdoses, discarded needles, public urination, drunk and disorderly arrests. Officers took alcohol off people 130 times, more than half of them in the Sunken Gardens.

Murray Street, Station Road and Stepney Street account for most of the drinking. Add Church Street and Granby Close for the drugs.

The order that runs out in January

The town centre has had a drugs and alcohol order since January 2024, and it expires on 12 January 2027. Carmarthenshire Council wants it renewed for another three years, and it wants one new power added.

Drinking in the town centre is not an offence under the order and would not become one. The offence is refusing to stop, or refusing to hand over the drink, when an officer who believes it is causing trouble asks. That carries a fine of up to £500.

Police can also demand drug paraphernalia, with sealed needles in their packaging exempt, and refusing is a £1,000 fine.

Out of town for 24 hours

The new power is a move-on. An officer who believes someone is drunk or high and causing, or likely to cause, “anti-social behaviour, nuisance, disorder, harassment, alarm or distress” could order them out of the area, or part of it, for up to 24 hours.

Coming back inside that time is a £1,000 fine. It cannot be used to stop someone going home, to work, to school, to a medical appointment or to care for someone.

Sergeant Tom Grace of Llanelli’s neighbourhood policing team said the current order “has given officers a valuable tool that’s been successful in reducing anti-social behaviour”, and “provides a quick and effective way to deal with alcohol related anti-social behaviour”.

Bigger than the town centre

The map covers far more than the shops. It runs from Sandy and the Bigyn down through Tyisha and Seaside, round North Dock and along the Morfa to the Millennium Coastal Park, with pubs, clubs and their beer gardens excluded.

Recorded incidents probably understate it, because not everything gets reported and not every offence can be tied to drink or drugs.

Cllr Aled Vaughan Owen, the cabinet member for enforcement, said the council wanted to hear from “residents, businesses, visitors and community groups before any decisions are made”. The consultation closes on 12 October, on the council’s Have Your Say page.

A second order, for the car meets at North Dock, is out for consultation at the same time and would carry fines of up to £1,000 for drivers, passengers and spectators.

Author

Kit Peters

Kit Peters is a journalist and the editor of Swansea Bay News, covering Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire since 2020.