THERE have been calls for action to be taken at the new Regent Circus development – to prevent the car park from becoming a no-go area in the evenings.

It follows numerous reports of people congregating in modified cars and performing dangerous manoeuvres.

Despite only opening a few months ago, tyre marks are clearly visible on the floor where handbrake turns have been carried out.

The calls are being led by Labour’s candidate for South Swindon, Anne Snelgrove, following a frightening experience last week.

Cars were accelerating to speeds and then braking sharply and when Anne approached them, she had abuse shouted at her.

When she put her experience on Twitter, Wiltshire Police contacted Anne to discuss her concerns.

She now wants to see something put in place by Morrisons and Europarks, who operate the car park, to prevent the problem increasing.

“We really need a barrier at the entrance to stop these yobs screaming into the car park with no regard for people walking to and from their cars,” she said.

“Revving up of engines and racing at speed around a covered car park is what I saw on a visit to Morrison’s at 10pm recently. It’s dangerous and threatening behaviour.

“Wiltshire Police contacted me following my tweet about the car park, so well done to them for using social media to pick up on the issue.

“I’m a great fan of neighbourhood policing and hope that together the community and the police town centre team can make sure Regent’s Circus is the success it deserves to be.

“The last thing we need is yobs putting off families from visiting the excellent new restaurants and cinema complex.”

The police have said while there have been no reports of crimes such as vandalism, they are keen to work with the car park operators to stop the problem growing.

Inspector Paul Saunders, of the Town Centre Neighbour-hood Policing Team, said: “This is private land but if there are reports of a crime then we have a responsibility to look into it.

“Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to be on the gates around the clock. Regent Circus is a fantastic facility and we want to stop this problem before it escalates.

“We have seen elsewhere that if people have access to a car park then they can congregate there.

“A PC met with someone from Morrison’s earlier this week to discuss the issue and find a way forward.”

No-one from Europarks was available to comment, while a spokesperson for Morrison’s said they were looking into the issue.