The notices ban the motorists from congregating in an “antisocial manner” in the car park for one year. The supermarket has installed an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system to catch anyone flouting their ban.
The bans were handed out during an operation last Thursday.
Inspector Mark Smith, from the Blackwood Neighbourhood Police Team, said: “The evening was a great success and we have already been thanked by many members of the public and Asda. We’ve done a lot of targeted work over the years ranging from education to enforcement – both have helped tackle the issues, but lately the problem has began to escalate which has led to us seeking long term solutions.
“The new banning notices will be a huge deterrent to motorists thinking they can congregate in Asda on a Thursday night. With the road closure of Blackwood High Street in place from 7pm till 4pm we now feel we are tackling the cruiser issues in Blackwood head on.”
Warren Cook, general store manager for Asda Blackwood, said: “The issue of the cruisers has been causing a lot of distress to the local community for a very long time. We’ve been working very closely with the police who have been a great support in finding a long term resolution to the problem and now we can look forward to a better future for customers and colleagues of Asda.”
Car cruising in Blackwood has been a problem of the town for several years. At its peak, some 400 cruisers would meet near Blackwood Asda every Thursday night with events advertised on the internet.
It was reportedly the UK’s second most popular cruising destination.
Why is it not surprising to see the Gwent Police put huge efforts into controlling traffic in a private car park, on behalf of private enterprise, whilst ignoring the illegal parking in Caerphilly Town, which would ease the serious concerns of residents and traders alike???
Anyone have the answers?
Trefor Bond asks for answers to the parking difficulties for town residents. One such answer may be voting out the current ward councillors, who appear to be not very concerned with the problem, and voting in people who are willing to listen to the residents.
Just a thought…