A Timaru couple who claim to have been intimidated by young people while passing through Balclutha last weekend, are calling for night patrols to be introduced in the town.
But police say a community-based night patrol could have done little to prevent the incident or deal with it.
Bill and Kuini Ryan had pulled over in their campervan at the Arthur Strang Reserve, just north of the Balclutha bridge, on Saturday night, when they were approached by one of two occupants of a car, a scantily clothed male who they thought was intoxicated.
He pretended to be a policeman and demanded the couple open the campervan.
After a brief exchange, the man and his female companion drove off but they passed by again soon afterwards, hurling obscenities.
Mrs Ryan (57) said when contacted yesterday the couple were angry about the incident.
Community night patrols worked effectively in Timaru and Oamaru and there was no reason why they could not in a town like Balclutha, she said.
Approached for comment, Clutha sub-area police controller Senior Sergeant Richard Whitmore said the Ryans should have contacted police immediately.
Night patrols working in other towns had no powers to resolve those kinds of incidents.
