AN ABERAERON county councillor has described the behaviour of large groups of people who gathered on the quay on Easter Sunday as ‘very disappointing and totally irresponsible’.

Police were forced to disperse over 150 people as the popular Ceredigion seaside resort drew large numbers of visitors.

An angry Cllr Elizabeth Evans has now hit out at the behaviour of some visitors who she claimed had shown no consideration for locals.

"Yes, the sun was shining, but personal responsibility was severely lacking by many,” she told the Tivy-Side. “The anti-social behaviour by some showed a complete lack of respect for residents around the harbour.

“If the hospitality sector had been open, at least they would have been in a safe, controlled environment, and scenes like the ones we saw could have been avoided.

“This needs to be a one-off incident because Aberaeron does not need this kind of unwelcome attention.

“As a result, more police will be deployed to Aberaeron and if the scenes we saw last weekend reoccur, dispersal orders will be used again.

“I sincerely hope that will not be the case.”

Supt Andrew Edwards said: “Over the bank holiday weekend, Dyfed-Powys Police experienced a significant increase in the volume of legal traffic coming into the area from visitors across Wales, with the vast majority of people adhering fully with the Covid-19 restrictions currently in place, however a low number of fixed penalty notices were issued for breaches of legislation.

“On Sunday, 4 April, the force was required to authorise a Section 34 dispersal order in the Aberaeron area of Ceredigion under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, where more than 150 people had congregated, with the dispersal order being in place for 24 hours.

"The crowd engaged positively with Dyfed-Powys Police officers and were fully compliant with dispersal requirements.”