Cheltenham encouraged following behaviour crackdown trial at November meeting

Cheltenham’s new campaign to combat anti-social behaviour from racegoers in the town has been hailed a success following a trial at the November meeting last weekend.

The Love Our Turf campaign, a joint effort between the racecourse, police and local community, will be fully launched at the Cheltenham Festival in March, having been introduced following reports of drunk racegoers publicly urinating in front gardens and Pittville Park and confronting motorists at the big meeting this year.

Cheltenham looked to address complaints by installing temporary toilets, stewards and employing enhanced cleaning among the roads leading to the course, with a particular focus on the busy Evesham Road which connects the track to the town centre.

The local police confirmed on Thursday there were no incidents across the three-day meeting.

Gloucestershire Police's chief inspector Carl Bourne said: “The new steps brought in to help reduce anti-social behaviour and minimise the impact on local residents was a success at the races last weekend.

“Our officers, who were visible at the event, received positive feedback from members of the local community who welcomed the initiative, and the road closures put in place also helped better protect the public.

“There will be a debrief and any learning will be taken onboard and discussed with partner agencies to ensure future large-scale events at the racecourse run as smoothly as possible.”

Local MP Alex Chalk, who attended a meeting at the track in the summer where an action plan was the starting point for the campaign, said feedback from locals had been positive.

“I’m hugely encouraged by the trial of the Love Our Turf initiative,” Chalk said. “The initial feedback from local residents has been positive and I'm grateful to the team of wayfinders who came out to help on Saturday night.

“The festival is such an important part of the Cheltenham calendar, and this has been really useful learning on how we might address, in the long-term, the legitimate concerns about the anti-social behaviour of a small minority.”

Cheltenham Festival: attracted a record crowd of 280,627 last seasonCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

The Jockey Club’s Andre Klein, who was behind the project, reported no major issues at the November meeting and intends to expand the initiative for the four-day festival in March when around 260,000 racegoers will attend. He believes the efforts have reassured the community that their complaints have been listened to.

Klein, who is Cheltenham's community engagement manager, said: “All the feedback I’ve received from racegoers and members of the public has been really positive. I was out on the street and I really sensed there was a shift in the atmosphere. It was really nice and it made getting into town a lot quicker and safer.

“For the festival we’ll expand the footprint of what we did and we’ll back it up with a marketing campaign as well. There’s lots of little learning, mostly of positioning of stewards and toilets and things like that which we can improve upon.

"I think this can change the perception of the festival within the local community if we get it right. The relationship is generally good but it is well publicised we had a number of issues last season."

Parking is the next area set to be addressed following complaints from members that their regular space had been moved due to the relocation of a bus and taxi rank.

Klein said: "Car parking is a project we’ll look at in the next couple of months. We’ll do some work around that, whether it’ll result in any change I don’t know."

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