Residents in Newtownabbey have said their lives are being made a “misery” due to ongoing anti-social behaviour at a local car park.

A Carnmoney Road resident was speaking to The CT after the latest incident on Sunday, October 25, when a laser pen was shone through his house window.

The man, who did not wish to be named, said there was over 30 cars in the Carnmoney Road car park and that there seemed to be an escalation of the problem over the last few weeks.

He said: “On Sunday night I was sitting in my living room and the next thing I seen a green light shining through. I didn’t know what it was, so I went to the door. All I could see was all the cars in the car park.

“I went up to my daughter who said they were shining a green laser pen into the house and they had also shined it into her room.

“It is very worrying as I would occasionally have my granddaughters staying here and it is bad enough shining a laser at an adult but it would be terrible on a child.”

The concerned resident said that residents are becoming increasingly concerned due to the rising number of cars at the car park.

“It just seems to be getting worse,” he said. “There is now even more of them — on Sunday night there was 30 cars. They also seem to be coming more often. It used to be once a week but now they are coming several days a week.

“They blast their music to the point where we can’t even hear our own televisions. They are doing donuts in the car park. And I seen one car going what must have been 60mph.

“Our lives are just a misery at the moment.”

Councillor Nigel Hamilton, who has been working with the residents to resolve the issue, said: “There has been several meetings in relation to anti-social behaviour at this car park.

“At this stage we have agreed that the barriers would be erected if the situation does not improve.

“There will be another meeting in a couple of weeks and I will be pushing for the barrier to go up after the latest incident.

“We need to take steps to help residents whose lives are being made a misery by this anti-social behaviour.”

Inspector Martin Ruddy at Glengormley said: “Police in Glengormley have not as yet received any complaints about the use of lasers at the weekend but we are aware of possible activity involving their use and are making inquiries. If we receive a complaint we shall investigate it.

“The public need to be aware of the serious consequences of using lasers, particularly if they’re directed at aircraft or road traffic. As they can cause temporary blindness there can be catastrophic consequences. Parents should be extremely wary of allowing their children to possess these items.”