Northampton residents frustrated as 60 weekend 'revellers' leave behind BBQs and booze

Two large BBQs were ditched in the middle of the park before the council cleaned it up.

BBQs, 'laughing gas' canisters and boxes of beer were among the heaps of litter left behind in a Northampton park last weekend, causing anger among neighbours who set themselves to task litterpicking.

On Saturday, for about six hours, 60 people thought to be under 35 years old gathered at the park where they played loud music and were 'skidding' in cars.

The anti-social behaviour has prompted neighbours to involve the police and borough council to find a solution.

Alcohol boxes, takeaway containers and plastic drinks bottles were left strewn across the grass.

One resident David, who did not want his surname identified, said the gatherings have been happening every weekend throughout lockdown and have been a blight on the community who volunteer to clean up after them.

He said he had to give warning to a football coach about some broken glass strewn across the playing field on Sunday incase one of the players injured themselves on it.

"There's lots of children up the park, taking part in organised football training," he said. "There has been broken glass up there on Sunday mornings and one day, someone is going to fall over and get a serious cut.

"We are fed up of it now and it's been like this throughout lockdown really but this weekend has been the worst yet.

Rubbish was not taken home by the party-goers, instead just ditched for others to clean up.

"The media is discussing the possibility of a lockdown for ‘old people’, those over the age of 50. Why? It’s not the fault of ‘old people’ that the virus is still being spread."

A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Police said the force attended the scene just before 4pm on Saturday to speak with the group in the park who were having a BBQ and playing music.

She added: "The local neighbourhood police officers are currently liaising with the council on what actions can be taken to prevent ASB in this area.

"We know it’s frustrating but we would continue to encourage people to report issues to us so we can continue building a picture of what exactly goes on there and when, so the appropriate action can be taken."

Nitrous oxide was also found which is a colourless gas thats most commonly found in pressurised metal canisters.

A council spokesman said: “We are aware of issues in the area and have been working with residents and local councillors to try and help deal with them.

“Residents now have keys which they can use to lock and unlock the car park. This will help limit access to core hours. We have also commissioned some signage to discourage littering in a variety of our parks.

“As always, any issues with littering and fly-tipping can be reported to us via our website or app and will be cleared at the earliest possible opportunity by our environmental services contractor.

“Anti-social behaviour should be reported via the Northamptonshire Police website or by calling 101.”

Issues can be reported to us on our ‘Report a problem” page here.