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Traders have met police chiefs over fears ahead of a 3,000-strong 'invasion' of Portrush for a huge car cruise on Easter Sunday.

The event draws petrolheads from across Northern Ireland.

But residents and business owners are concerned the event could bottleneck the whole area and kill trade on one of the busiest weekends of the year for the town.

Causeway Ulster Unionist councillor William McCandless told Belfast Live: "For a parade or that you have to submit the necessary paperwork beforehand.

"This is somewhat different because who's to say who tags along, who has ownership of it, who is just stuck in the convoy like everybody else.

"The police are taking it seriously and we will be meeting with them again in a few weeks.

"You could have up to 3,000 cars and that's not being alarmist. It snarls up the whole town and gets everybody's backs up.

"We're doing our best to ensure the north coast area is the premier tourist area for the whole of Ireland.

"You want to make sure people will come and have an enjoyable day out."

The event is arranged on social media, with more than 2,600 people already having signalled their intentions on Facebook to take part in this Easter's cruise.

A trader feared day-trippers could be put off heading to the town due to concerns about traffic snarl-ups.

He added: "The vast majority of the young ones taking part will no doubt behave themselves and are just there to show-off their cars.

"But Portrush isn't big enough for an event like that, unplanned. The fear is the place will be transformed into one big car park."

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