Fury at police as PCSOs join drag act named 'Coco Aine' in Pride tour

Fury at police as two PCSOs join drag act named ‘Coco Aine’ in Pride-themed bus tour to hand sweets out to children

• South Wales Police sent two PCSOs to join the rainbow-festooned Pride vehicle

A police force took part in a Pride parade bus featuring drag act named after a Class A drug to hand out sweets to children.

South Wales Police sent two PCSOs to join the rainbow-festooned vehicle alongside cabaret performer Coco Aine, whose real name is Jack.

The event, organised by Neath Port Talbot Pride, also featured a Labour councillor who posed up for pictures on the day.

The South Wales force was so proud of its involvement it had posted a picture on social media of the occasion, but was forced to delete it after an onslaught of criticism.

And after critics suggested it was inappropriate the councillor who also took part – Charlotte Galsworthy – admitted she may have reconsidered it if she had known more about the bus tour.

South Wales Police sent two PCSOs to join the rainbow-festooned vehicle alongside cabaret performer Coco Aine, whose real name is Jack

Neath Port Talbot Pride declined to comment when approached by MailOnline about the bus

She confessed to The Sun: ‘I had never met him (Coco Aine) before. I just knew him as Jack. He didn’t hand any sweets to kids.

‘There were two PCSOs on the bus and we just went around handing out water bottles and lanyards.

‘The whole thing was two hours, it was really bad weather and we stopped twice and there was nobody there. I think we met eight people in total and we already knew them.

‘Would I have done things differently if I’d known? I probably would have.’

Neath Port Talbot Pride declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.

Coco Aine , pictured here performing in character, could not be reached for comment

The South Wales force was so proud of its involvement it had posted a picture on social media of the occasion, but have now deleted it

The June 30 event was organised by the group and the first time it has happened in the town, based in the steelworks for the occasion.

South Wales Police had tweeted: ‘Port Talbot NPT are on the Pride bus . . . if you see the bus stopped, come and say hello.’

NPT in this case is an acronym for Neath Port Talbot but can also often mean Neighbourhood Policing Team.

Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, said of the event: ‘This is all too typical of police forces.

‘They spend far too much time and money on fostering good community relations with woke identity groups, and not enough on catching criminals.’

The force has come under some criticism before over the amount it has spent on Pride-related items.

South Wales Police defended attending the bus and says it does a lot of work with the community

South Wales Police has spent thousands on rainbow liveries and even has this Pride theme car

It is said to blown £24,000 on rainbow flags, face paints, LGBTQ badges and whistles.

South Wales Police told MailOnline: ‘South Wales Police works hard to engage with all our communities and local Neighbourhood Policing Teams regularly attend community events. We do this to establish trust and to ensure that the public have confidence in reporting crime or seeking our help.

‘The LGBT+ community is an important part of the diverse culture of the communities of South Wales, and we engage with the LGBT+ community to show an appreciation of the challenges they face, opening a dialogue and helping to build trust.

‘We expect our communities to be respectful when commenting on our social media channels and posts may be deleted should they become a platform for people to post offensive comments.’

The TaxPayers’ Alliance suggested: ‘With the police precept on the rise, hard-pressed taxpayers expect to see precious resources focused on fighting crime.’

Coco Aine could not be reached for comment.

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