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Magaluf: Plans for UK police to help crack down on Brits in notorious resort branded a 'joke' over officers' working hours

Officers admit future scheme might see them ‘on the streets at night’

David Hughes
Thursday 13 August 2015 21:58 BST
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A couple take a selfie with Sergeant Brett Williams in Magaluf
A couple take a selfie with Sergeant Brett Williams in Magaluf

An attempt to curb the antics of British revellers in Magaluf by deploying UK police in the party hotspot has been branded ‘a joke’ by tourists and workers who say the officers were working at the wrong times.

The Majorcan resort has gained notoriety for the extreme drinking, outrageous behaviour and casual sex of the estimated 150,000 British tourists who flock there each year. Last summer, a video of a teenage girl from Northern Ireland performing sex acts on 24 men for free alcohol went viral, and led to the Carnage Magaluf bar receiving a €55,000 fine and being ordered to close down.

In light of the reputation of a destination branded ‘Shagaluf’, Sergeant Brett Williams and PC Martina Anderson of West Midlands Police have spent this week patrolling its streets, working alongside the Spanish Guardia Civil.

But tourists and bar workers have pointed out that the two officers’ working hours, between 7am and 10pm, avoided the busiest and booziest times for the resort’s most famous nightspots, such as the BCM Superclub and the Punta Ballena strip.

Alex Patterson, 21, said he had not seen the officers and was unaware that they were on the island: "We go out at 12 o'clock at the earliest and are home between 4am and 6am, which is probably why we haven't seen them.”

Cathie Wood, 46, from Nottingham, who was visiting Majorca for the third time this year, said the hours were "a joke".

"People don't even get out of their beds until midnight to come out and party,” she said. “Where are they when they are partying and the trouble's kicking off?”

Kal Morris, from Blackpool, who works at the Stereo bar, backed the presence of British police but offered suggestions as to how the trial could be more constructive.

The 26-year-old said: "I think it is a good idea, but they have come at the wrong time. And two British police between 8am and 10pm? No one is out - there is no point.

The trial scheme will also see the officers spend time in Ibiza

"They should send more, introduce themselves to all the workers down the strip and work from 6pm to 4am.

The two officers said that the trial scheme, which will also see them spend time in San Antonio, Ibiza, had been successful, but admitted a future project would “probably see them on the streets at night”.

The officers worked win tandem with the Guadria Civil

Sgt Williams said: "We have had a really good reaction. We have had no negative comments, they have all been very positive. Both the people that live here, the people that have come here on holiday and also the Spanish that have been here as well.

"They have all thought that it is an amazing scene to see a British bobby in uniform.”

Additional reporting from PA

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