Inside UK's day drinking booze binge hotspot where revellers enjoy ‘sex acts' in streets & pass out on dirty pavements
It's 3pm and everywhere you look it's a riotous scene, but with mums pushing babies in buggies past bulging bars it feels inappropriately early and what happens next stops me in my tracks.
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Michelle regales the times she went out boozing in Cardiff but preferred evening trips instead of daytime
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Michelle visited the Welsh capital on payday weekend and reveals what she uncovered
Credit: WNS
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A group of women let their hair down on a warm payday weekend in Cardiff
Credit: WNS
I'm standing on Cardiff's St Mary Street on a payday weekend and watch as a man gropes and humps a blow up doll in front of streams of shoppers and children heading towards the train station.
Two tween girls trailing behind their mums on a shopping trip stop and gawp along with me.
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Further up the street a girl gang starts to simulate oral sex and a doggy style threesome, enjoying the attention from the camera but carelessly shoulder barging an elderly woman in the process. Moments later a woman passes by chugging fizzy wine from the bottle.
Just metres from Cardiff's oldest shopping arcade, a boozed up bloke is laid out on the pavement while a kind cafe worker offers him a cup of water. The listed arcades are full of shoppers cutting through who are greeted by his figure spread out on the floor.
The daytime drinking culture is booming in this city and data suggests it is being driven by revellers wanting to avoid pricey cabs and catch public transport home to keep costs down.
A study by Infinity Calculator analysed data on the most populated areas in the UK via cost of living calculator Expatistan to find where people can enjoy a night out at the lowest cost. It revealed that
Cardiff's spend was £27.33, where the average cost of a pint of beer is a mere £3.43.
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It's not just anti-social behaviour causing problems. The fallout of Welsh drinking culture is huge.
I've had my fair share of wild Cardiff nights out.
During my party girl heyday I wouldn't have dreamt of booking a taxi to the club until at least 11pm.
I remember throwing up for hours, and sharing booze with a homeless man...I was a nightmare in a short skirt
Michelle
We'd start at home with rounds of cheap supermarket booze before heading into town to unleash our debauched behaviour under the cover of darkness.
I used to clock off from my waitressing shift and head straight to the clubs. It was after midnight - who cared if I was twerking in a sauce stained apron?
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I hazily remember throwing up for hours in the toilets of a strip club and sharing booze with a homeless man at a taxi rank - I was a nightmare in a short skirt.
Now revellers are partying with the same abandon but at 3pm, as toddlers grip their parents hands in horror.
The St Mary Street scene caught the eye of coal miner Glyndwr Roberts, 48, as we stood side by side on the pavement.
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A reveller in one of Cardiff's 300 bars with an inflatable doll
Credit: WNS
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Glyndwr says his Saturday shopping trips are spoiled by boozy brunches
Credit: WNS
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Chuckling and shaking his head, Glyndwr, who is in the city to socialise with work pals, said: 'It's an eye opener, seeing kids walking past him with a blow up doll. They're seeing things at an early age they shouldn't. It's not right. I can't believe my eyes.
'My two boys are 24 and 17 now. It's totally different from when they were little. We'd never have come out to be near this and it wouldn't be happening in the day.
'I look out for everyone. I tell the boys from work to mind their language around kids in town but if you see me at midnight it will be a different story.'
Cardiff Council's Cumulative Impact Assessment states that 'Cardiff's City Centre has a thriving day and night-time economy with an average daily footfall of 70,000 and an annual footfall of over 40 million".
It continues: 'People are drawn to the City Centre for its numerous shops, bars, restaurants and entertainment venues including the Principality Stadium, all of which are situated in a small walkable area.'
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Crime hot spot
But with more than 300 licensed premises in a half a mile radius St Mary Street has become a hot spot for crime, arguably being fuelled by booze.
The harms of binge drinking
The NHS defines binge drinking as 'drinking heavily over a short space of time'.
More than 8 units of alcohol in a single session for males, or more than 6 units in a single session for females is the technical definition, according to Drinkaware.
That's equivalent to about four pints of normal strength beer for a man or three pints for a woman.
When you binge drink, other than getting drunk, your heart rate and blood pressure will rise. It can cause irregular heartbeats, known as arrhythmias.
Alcohol increases stomach acid production - queue the nausea and potentially vomiting.
You're also likely to experience impaired judgement, coordination, memory blackouts and poor decision making.
This could lead to accidents, falls, drownings and other mistakes.
Long term, binge drinking can cause acute liver damage and increase the risk of chronic liver diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Cardiovascular problems include cardiomyopathy - which is when the heart loses the ability to pump blood efficiently - and an increased risk of stroke.
Over time, binge drinking can contribute to permanent brain damage. This may present as a mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression.
Binge drinking can also lead to alcohol dependence, or "addiction".
In 2023, South Wales Police
Personally I avoid it if I head to the capital with my two boys who are seven and four.
As a local I know how to navigate the city to skip past the reams of packed smoking areas pumping out clouds of vape smoke and expletives. Instead I head out of the train station towards Westgate Street, avoiding the crush of the packed pavements by Walkabout, Coyote Ugly and The Prince of Wales Wetherspoon.
But plenty of dumbstruck tourists and shoppers didn't get the memo last Saturday and found themselves in the midst of stag parties dressed in drag, hens out as scantily clad cowgirls and a birthday troupe in full Avengers superhero garb.
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"Upset and intimidated"
Daniella Thomas, 29, was out in the bars celebrating a birthday. She works in hospitality and said: 'It's a wicked atmosphere being out on a sunny day and people like to get their drinking done early, catch the train home and be in bed by ten. You can still get a good sleep and less of a hangover that way.'
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A man lays on the pavement in the city centre where a cafe worker offers him water
Credit: Supplied
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Drinking starts early in Cardiff as one woman takes a swig from a bottle of wine
Credit: WNS
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Cardiff is a popular spot for stag and hen dos
Credit: WNS
Trying to keep the city enjoyable but safe is FOR Cardiff, the Welsh capital's business improvement district that works with city centre organisations of all types.
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Carolyn Brownell is the Executive Director, she said: 'A lot goes on behind the scenes around creating that welcoming environment.
'Safety is a really important element of what FOR Cardiff does. We lead the Women's Safety Network in Cardiff, our Night Marshal teams provide a reassuring presence in the city centre during the busiest times, offering support to the public getting home safely and through our Safe Places scheme we invite venues to offer refuge to anyone feeling vulnerable.'
The work behind the scenes is paying off as Cardiff has received Purple Flag accreditation for a seventh year, in recognition of its commitment to creating a dynamic, secure, and vibrant evening and night-time economy for all.
Purple Flag – similar to the Blue Flag for beaches – aims to raise the standard and broaden the appeal of town and city centres between 5 pm and 5 am.
But what about the day time?
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I spoke to parents who felt upset and intimidated by the rowdy behaviour in town during their Saturday shopping trip.
"It's chaos on a Saturday"
Lauren Moyle, 30, is a shop sales assistant and a mum-of-one. She chatted to me outside TK Maxx, saying: 'When I got on the train we knew it was going to be chaos. We made a plan to avoid parts of town where the drinkers are and get what we need and get out.
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Lauren and her daughter actively avoid certain areas of the city centre when shopping on a Saturday
Credit: WNS
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The city's attracts thousands of people on weekends and pavements are packed full
Credit: WNS
'Shopping isn't enjoyable when town is packed. You're on edge a bit keeping everyone safe. The language is shocking too.'
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Lauren's friend Chloe Wallis is 33 and a mum-of-four. She added: 'If you go to St Mary Street you assume you'll hear the language and see all the drunk behaviour so we avoid there but it spreads into town. We just took the kids for a Burger King and groups in there were effing and blinding. It's not acceptable.
'But I don't feel able to say anything, it's too intimidating and I have to keep the kids safe. It's a shame but we do avoid town because of it usually.'
Some of the conditions that need to be met for a premises to sell alcohol include taking measures to prevent public nuisance and protect children from harm.
I asked Cardiff council if enough is being done to safeguard families in Cardiff city centre from day time drinkers.
They said: 'We continue to work with our partners in South Wales Police and in FOR Cardiff to find the right balance in the city centre, so that everyone can enjoy their visit.
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'We also have our own Council staff on the ground. For example, our team of wardens operate Tuesday to Saturday, reporting and acting to stop anti-social behaviour they encounter throughout the day and into the early evening on Friday and Saturday.
'Our licensing team also visits licensed premises to ensure they are well managed and compliant with their Premises Licence.'
I'm not a prude or a bore but families have a right to enjoy public spaces without being subjected to riotous swearing, simulated sex acts and drunken antics from boozed up party animals.
I'd welcome any steps to make our Capital more family friendly during busy weekends. But after spending all afternoon with revellers I decided if you can't beat them, join them and end the day sitting in the sunshine enjoying a large glass of rose before heading home.
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Michelle now avoids heading to the capital on a weekend with her two children
Credit: Supplied
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