Chch cops help quell Dunedin disorder

Dunedin police were grateful for the extra help over the weekend. Photo / Otago Daily Times

Dunedin police were grateful for out-of-town reinforcements during a busy weekend of burning couches and broken parking meters.

Local police numbers were swelled by the public order policing unit from Christchurch and the unit was soon called into action on Saturday night after a series of parties and couches flared.

"The unit was meant to be going down to a shearing competition in Balclutha but they weren't required so they helped us out around town,'' Senior Sergeant Craig Brown of Dunedin police said yesterday.

Two people were arrested for offences ranging from disorderly behaviour to breaching bail conditions, and an 18-year-old female student was taken to the central police station for detoxification.

In an earlier incident on Saturday, a 21-year-old man drove into a parking meter, knocking it to the ground before fleeing the scene.

"They would appear to be fairly well cemented in. He did a fair bit of damage to the car," Mr Brown said.

"There were a few students bobbing around for the loose change, cashing in, you might say".

The man turned himself into police yesterday and was likely to face careless driving charges, he said.

Police were also investigating an incident in which a taxi driver was allegedly assaulted by a group of people on Saturday night.