Square littered with glass

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32494, 2 January 1971, Page 1

Square littered with glass

Cathedral Square was so covered in glass broken by New Year’s Eve revellers that taxi-drivers would not accept fares in the area. During the height of the celebrations in the. Square bottles were thrown at a patrol car and on to the road.

Of 16 arrests in the city on Thursday night, nine were made in the Square. Police patrols had been split to cover the Square and New Brighton, and extra patrols, with dogs, were out. Until 11 p.m. the city was unusually quiet, but crowds soon afterwards flocked to the Square to see the New Year in. Numbers grew to about 500 and some of the crowd became restless. While many remained inside the law, others threw bottles and escaped back into the crowd before policemen could identify them. At one stage, when a youth was being forced into a patrol car, a shouting mob ran across the Square to hinder the arrest. Others on the steps of the Chief Post Office threw bottles at the roof of the car, and a group tried to block it from moving off. As a constable tried to get into the car, shouting youths rocked the vehicle from side to side.

Later, youths snatched a policeman's hat and passed it, Rugby-style, among themselves. Scuffling developed into a ruck which cleared only when one youth broke free and raced down the road with the constable in pursuit. Several persons celebrated the arrival of 1971 by jumping into the Stewart Fountain, and a red-brown colouring was released into the water. This had not cleared late yesterday afternoon. Traffic in the Square was controlled by Ministry of Transport officers, who later blocked parts of the Square to allow the City Council street sweeper to clear up broken glass. Ships berthed at Lyttelton sounded their sirens at mid-

night to welcome the New Year and a small orderly crowd gathered briefly outside the Lyttelton Borough Council Chambers. Two persons were arrested for fighting and one for using obscene language. These incidents occurred early on New Year’s Day.