The beautiful British city plagued by drunk horse racing fans | UK | News

The jarring hollow metallic sound of shoes crumpling car roofs and bonnets is a far cry from the noise of thundering horses’ hooves on a racetrack. But boozed-up racegoers galloping over parked vehicles is a sad reality for residents living in the shadow of a horse racing track in one of the prettiest cities in England.

York is a historic jewel, with stunning medieval streets, Viking roots, and an impressive, preserved 13th century city wall running right around the centre. There’s even a statue of Emperor Constantine, who was proclaimed leader of the Roman Empire in the Yorkshire settlement in 306 AD. And the beautiful backdrop, and accolades such as being named among the UK’s best places to visit by Conde Nast, has led to a boom in tourists in recent years. But the thriving hospitality sector has also attracted hen and stag parties, and people coming to let their hair down at the grand York Racecourse, known as the ‘Ascot of the North’, which is only around two miles from the city’s historic heart.

The venue sits next to a large patch of common land known as the Knavesmire, and the attractive Victorian houses which line the edge of the green space make for a seemingly pleasant place to live. But with around 260,000 racegoers attending some 17 meetings every year, the quiet streets can become awash with some rather unsavoury behaviour more suited to the last days of Rome, than the tranquillity of a suburb.

Public urination by both men and women, shouting and swearing, kicking of cars and suspected drink driving are all complained about by locals, who also bemoan swarms of Ubers taking over the roads, acting as modern-day chariots for the barbarian hordes of drinkers.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, says she has grown up in the area and racegoers who have over-indulged have always been a problem. “We’ve had racegoers running over the car roofs and bonnets,” she says.

“They come down the back lanes and pee everywhere, they hit and kick cars, there’s shouting and swearing. We shouldn’t feel like a prisoner because we live next door to the racecourse, but that is how it feels sometimes.

“They (the council) put barriers and stuff here but there’s no restrictions on where people can park, the July meetings are the worst because people come back to their cars drunk and then hit other cars when they drive off. It’s crazy.”

Explaining how she thinks more could be done, the woman continues: “I’ve grown up around here my whole life, it’s crackers. Before a race meeting starts, they (the racecourse) don’t put anything through the doors saying what is happening.

“You’ve got the Ubers flying around the streets, they use [them] to try and get through to the racecourse.”

The mother adds that road restrictions are poorly enforced during meetings, noting: “We had Ascot relocate here about 20 years ago and that was brilliant in terms of organisation, they closed off all of the streets off and every person who lived in the area had a permit in their car window, so the stewards knew who lived here. But now it’s just an absolute nightmare and no one listens.”

Teresa Melling, who has lived in the area for 20 years, says some of the behaviour has improved in recent years, but she admits: “We do see a lot of ladies dressed very nicely, who no longer act like ladies by the end of the day.

“There used to be a lot of swearing, but I think that has gone down recently.”

Working as a shop assistant in a bakery on Queen Victoria Street, Mrs Melling says local businesses used to cash in on race days, but things have changed now.

“It’s not so busy now, because the organisers channel the crowds away from these streets, and they are not allowed to take food into the track” she adds. “The race day doesn’t support local businesses as much as they could.”

Artist and DJ Kazee, who lives just a few doors down from the bakery, says the behaviour is “standard” in Britain when people have had too much to drink.

“When I’ve been to places elsewhere in the world, they don’t have the culture that we do where everyone seems to just go out to get wasted,” she says.

“I was in Germany recently and people clean up after themselves, but when you come back to England there’s just litter everywhere, and drunken people wrecking stuff. It’d be good if this country could have better values again and more respect.”

The 26-year-old says when race days are on it is noticeable how bad behaviour increases and, like many residents, she “hibernates” when the big events are on and avoids leaving her home.

The terraced streets are relatively tranquil now at around midday when we are walking them, but with the first race starting in two hours the number of Uber cars driving down the Victorian avenues has noticeably increased.

In another property, Nik, 31, says he has heard of some very “heinous” antics being carried out by horse racing followers who have had one or two too many.

He adds: “Along the houses which face out onto the Knavesmire common land towards the racecourse, people like to relieve themselves. We’ve had some stickers put up warning about anti-social behaviour, I think they (the council) try to manage the situation as best as possible, but it can be quite difficult.

“We tend to not go out when the races are happening. It can get pretty tough.”

A man who lives in one of the pretty homes facing the common land where packs of punters walk from York city centre to the course says he knew what he was getting when he moved next to the venue, so “couldn’t really complain”.

“We had a nice group playing [a] guitar and singing the other day”, he notes. “It can be a nice atmosphere.”

But the resident, who did not wish to be named, says a worrying trend has emerged in recent years where he found it harder to get hold of a police officer when a race day was on.

“The one thing I would say that has been a problem is the lack of availability of police,” he says.

“I used to volunteer as a bailiff at a local fishing pond, and we had a couple of cases where people tried to come at night and steal the fish. We were down there at midnight and there were two guys trying to nick the fish.

“We informed them they couldn’t do that, and they swore and shouted and threatened to knock us out. They had knives in their fishing kit.

“But when we rang the police, they just told us it was a race day, and we should basically leave the situation. That’s happened on numerous occasions now, where there have been crimes that didn’t involve the races, but we have been told because it’s race day there’s no one available to support us.”

Situated on the way back into the city centre is Bishopthorpe Road, known locally as Bishy Road, where a host of independent bars, eateries and high street shops have sprung creating a bohemian vibe.

Chris Reith, from the general store The Bishy Weigh, says he can see how rowdy racegoers might be a problem for residents.

He explains: “Most of the punters have been before, so they make their way from the hotel to the racecourse and then generally go back from pub, to pub, to pub.

“I think maybe we don’t have as many customers, because a lot of people stay at home. People come in early and then it slows down.”

In 2015 Bishy Road was crowned “Britain’s Best High Street” in a competition run under David Cameron’s Conservative government.

“With my friends and things, we get what we need and stay in, it can be like a Leeds night vibe but in a much smaller city, and no one is prepared for that”, Chris jokes.

York resident Mitchell Strong, works at 2 Many Wines, a drinking establishment a few doors down from The Bishy Weigh. He explains: “You do hear the horror stories that sometimes people can be a bit rude, there can be anti-social behaviour, this city does get rammed on race days in particular, which can make it a bit of a struggle getting around.”

Soaking up the heatwave sunshine for this race meeting on July 11 are a group of racegoers from the North East of England gathered together about 200 yards from the entrance to the races.

All wearing Oasis-style bucket hats, the group of men in their 50s have already started on a few cans of beer on the common before they head in to have a flutter on the horses.

Jeff, one of the group of pals, says: “We’ve been coming here for the last 25 years to this meeting. We’ve never seen any bother, not on the racecourse anyway, it’s always been lovely.

“We are all from Middlesbrough, we are from Cargo Fleet Social Club, one of our members Francis Gunn started this trip but he’s sadly passed away. It’s all about him.”

The group of friendly Smoggies, a colloquial term for people from Middlesbrough, offer myself and the photographer a can of lager each, but we politely decline.

Outside of the racetrack itself the atmosphere is buzzing with well-dressed men and women arriving for the festivities. In a striking scene racegoer Jason Baskind is having his bald head sprayed liberally with sun cream by his friend Lily Bell.

Jason says any problems usually happen after the races when people are spilling out into the local area.

As his scalp absorbed a fresh coat of UV protection, he says: “We are meeting a big group of people who have been drinking since midday, we’ve just come because of the sun, because of the alcohol, because it’s a bit of fun and a great day out.”

In response to local residents’ concerns, a spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police says: “We work closely with the racecourse and a range of local partners in the lead-up to race season to help ensure events run smoothly and safely for everyone involved.

“On race days, our officers carry out high-visibility patrols in and around the area, using the same neighbourhood policing approach we apply across the city throughout the year. We focus our resources on identified hotspots and respond swiftly to any issues that arise.

“The vast majority of racegoers are respectful and enjoy the events responsibly. However, we take a firm stance on any criminal behaviour or anti-social conduct that impacts local residents or other visitors. Those who choose to behave irresponsibly can expect to be dealt with appropriately.

“If you need to speak to us during a race event, please feel free to approach one of our officers on patrol.”

Express.co.uk offered The City of York Council and York Racecourse the opportunity to comment.