The popular Trench Lane car boot sale faces being refused a trading licence by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) after local police objected on the grounds that the public might be subjected to “force, fear or harm [following] numerous public order complaints emanating from the site”.
The boot sale, which has taken place on the site opposite Woodlands Golf Club for over ten years (although it has only been officially licensed since 2003), runs every Sunday from early May to late September.
A report to be discussed by SGC’s Licensing Sub-Committee next Tuesday (15th February) states that, during the 2010 season, “numerous complaints were made to both the police and the Licensing Department in relation to the alleged heavy handedness of the marshalling team who conduct traffic direction within the parking area of the site.”
The report details five complaints of “threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour” by marshals during the 2010 season with two of the alleged incidents occurring in the presence of young children.
Other complaints made to the authorities about the sale over the last two years include filthy toilets, trading by an unlicensed ice cream van, the sale of live animals and traffic congestion affecting businesses in the vicinity.
Marshals working at the event, some of whom roam around the site on quad bikes, are said to be members of the organiser’s family.
Council officers have recommended that the application either be granted with conditions (such as requiring marshals to undergo Security Industry Authority training) or refused.
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The Gazette reports that police and members of the public were turned away from Tuesday’s meeting because organisers of the sale had already been granted a licence on 5th January.
Read more: Public and police turned away as ‘admin error’ grants licence for car boot sale in Winterbourne
i have gone to these boot sales since they started, as have all my family, children, and grandchildren. and no one i know has ever been subject to any force or hassle EVER. dodgy loos, yes, overpriced tat sometimes, yes. show me a boot sale that does not have these things. there are some people who could not behave themselves no matter WHERE they were. why stop pleasure for the majority because of isolated incidents. if that is the policy, you may as well shut pubs, clubs, and all other places where people gather.