POLICE will not be able to marshal traffic at carnival events in the county due to a lack of resources and powers, members of the public heard at a special police meeting.

Speaking at a public meeting with Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llywelyn, held at Pembroke Dock’s Quins rugby club, town councillor Peter Kraus raised the issue of a lack of policing for carnivals and similar events.

The withdrawal of police marshalling of events such as Pembroke Dock’s annual Quins Carnival has previously been cited as one of the reasons for a reduction in its popularity due to difficulties in organising and marshalling float routes.

Last year’s event saw just one float, the Llanion Warriors, and limited attractions at the London Road sports ground.

At the November 9 meeting, Superintendent Ian John said limited resources and a lack of policing powers for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) had led to the changes.

He said the very success of the PCSOs meant their work had to be prioritised.

“Wherever we have a community event that is a great thing, but PCSOs do not have the power to stop vehicles. The reason I can’t provide PCSOs to do ‘the nice events’ is they have work to do in the community.”

He said the use of PCSOs for such roles could not be “a popularity contest”.

“I quite simply can’t have PCSOs doing the things they don’t have the powers to do, I would really, really love it if we had the resources to do everything throughout the county, but we haven’t.”