Residents worried police are cracking down on ‘around 100 people’ involved in ‘water fight’ in Leicester

Residents were left worried after police officers were forced to disperse a crowd of “around 100 people” involved in “water fights” on a residential street in Leicester city centre. Footage from Bath Lane, near the Holiday Inn, shows groups of people throwing water at each other.

Officers from Leicestershire Police can be seen and heard ordering the groups through megaphones to disperse. A force spokesman said a dispersal order was put in place at 8.45pm last night (Sunday May 12) after people were asked to leave the scene but then returned. Dispersal orders give police the power to ask people to leave an area to reduce the risk of public disorder and not to return for a set period of time.

The force said it had received reports that the group had caused “obstructions” on the road. A nearby resident told LeicestershireLive that “no one would be able to get down the street”, which has many blocks of flats and is densely populated, and that “this sort of thing is happening a lot” on the street.

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The resident, who did not want to be named, said: “When we went for a walk on the canal they were following each other in cars, four people in each car, possibly five or six cars involved, all with water. guns and water balloons, racing each other. And people who weren’t in cars were running across the roads, jumping out of the way of the cars as they came down.

“Nobody could cross the right street. Drains and gutters are filled with plastic water bottles. All of them would also have really loud music.

“I saw a lady with two children, carrying luggage, who had to be escorted down the street by a policeman. You’d think it’s nice to enjoy the warm weather with a water fight and it’s harmless fun, but blocking an entire road and racing cars around each other, then leaving the road in a sea of ​​plastic, is the worst for everyone who lives here. “

Much of the accommodation on the street is considered student accommodation. The onlooker said: “I don’t want to put it all on the grad students, but it’s completely obvious that they’re filling up the flats and they’re constantly in and out. I love living so close to downtown and the streets aren’t usually too bad, but lately this has been happening a lot.

“The idea is to raise awareness. This street had a firework display in November, then the same water scene happened on Wednesday (May 8) and again the drains and gutters are filled with plastic water bottles.”

It is not known if any of those who took part in the apparent water fight were students. De Montfort University and the University of Leicester declined to comment when approached by LeicestershireLive.

A spokesman for Leicestershire Police said: “At around 6.45pm yesterday (Sunday 12 May), police were called to Bath Lane following a report that around 100 people had gathered, causing road obstructions . The group initially dispersed when officers arrived, but later returned.

“As a result, a dispersal order was issued at 8:45 p.m. The order ended today (Monday) at 6.45am. Officers from Leicester Central Policing Area (NPA) are liaising with partners regarding the incident.”

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