People who live near Sir Sandford Fleming Park are hoping police patrols will reduce the number of after-hours partiers who've begun to congregate in parking lots there.

Like Point Pleasant Park, the area is drawing more cars and people as the weather warms up.

Speeding, excessive noise, garbage and damage to the park's landscape are some of the complaints residents have made to police.

"Over the years, it is fairly common to have partying at the park and we generally have ignored that," said John McManus, who lives nearby.

"But recently, over the last year in particular, it has gotten out of hand. The major concern that we have is that there's been a lot of destructive activity. People are driving onto the grass, there's a lot of alcohol being consumed and broken bottles being found up behind the Dingle Tower."

'It's getting really bad'

One of his grandchildren recently narrowly escaped injury from a pile of broken glass shards, he told CBC's Information Morning.

"People are using their four-wheel drives to go up the side of hills, over the playground area. It's really getting bad."

In addition, drivers are speeding up and down Parkhill Road which is very narrow, McManus said.

Neighbours have complained to police, by phone and emails, and while Halifax regional councillor Linda Mosher tweeted that police patrols have been stepped up, McManus said he hasn't noticed any change in the late-night activity.

More police presence would keep the activity manageable, "you can't eliminate people having good times," but right now, "people feel they're immune from any type of interference from police. It's out of hand."

Getting the word out

Const. Chris McDermott said police shoo people out of the park after hours on a regular basis, with two or three incidents in reports every night. The park is closed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

"People know about it. It's definitely a place to meet. We're down there regularly," he said.

Most recently, police have assigned plainclothes responders to the area, moving cars along and getting the word out to people frequenting the area after hours, McDermott said.

"With social media and text messages, doesn't take long to get the word out. Police are in the area and it will deter them from coming out," he said.