A central Wellington supermarket is fighting to keep its liquor licence, following police concerns its carpark is a hot spot for crime.
Police are questioning whether the Wellington City Council's District Licensing Committee should renew the licence for New World on Chaffers Street.
They told a committee hearing today that patrons drink in the carpark on Friday and Saturday nights before going into the nearby bars on Blair Street and Courtney Place.
The committee was shown CCTV footage of people littering, urinating and fighting in the carpark.
Officers, who monitor the area most weekends, said there were usually about 30 carloads of people drinking in the free carpark - mostly from the wider Wellington region.
Some people came back to the carpark to drink between visits to bars, they said.
The area is part of the city's liquor ban, and the police have the ability to issue a $250 fine and make people tip out their drinks.
The supermarket has started a trial period of locking up the carpark, which police said had decreased the number of calls they were forced to attend.
New World said it was disappointed that people were causing trouble in the carpark and they were working with the police to stop alcohol-related harm.
