Shoppers beset by beggars
SECURITY FEARS OVER PARK ADJOINING ASDA STORE
SHOPPERS have described how they have been pounced on by beggars, followed to their cars and even threatened because they wouldn’t hand over loose change.
Concerns have been aired about the lack of security at Asda, in Hyson Green, where up to 20 beggars are said to lurk around the car park every day.
A taxi marshal who works at the site said the problem was getting worse, with some of his customers saying they won’t return to the store.
Police closed the playground near Asda for two months during the pandemic in a bid to stop people congregating but since it has reopened the problems have returned.
Problems include street drinking, mamba-taking and begging, with businesses in the area calling for the park to be closed down.
Police said patrols had been “upped” to deal with the problems, but on Friday, October 30, the Nottingham Post saw one man in the car park shouting at shoppers while holding a half-drunk bottle of wine.
There was also a large group of people on the playground who continued to walk back and forth through the car park asking for change.
VJ Khan, 37, works as a taxi marshal for Nottingham Cars, which has a rank in the Asda car park. He said the issue was getting out of hand.
He said: “The police keep moving them on, but then they come back again and follow people for money and knock on their cars. Women with their children are scared.
“It is not just one or two – sometimes it is 15 to 20 and people are scared to walk by them at night.
“Some of them swear at people. They are here at night near the trolleys and smoking mamba. Asda security need to come out and move them on.
“They are losing customers. Sometimes the customers who get cabs say ‘we are not coming back’ because they are scared at the cashpoints and watching their backs.
“Some of them are not homeless. They are living in houses. In the morning you never see anyone sleeping here.”
Last year, 196 incidents, including vandalism, graffiti, street drinking, begging and the dumping of rubbish, were reported to police in or around the Asda in Radford Road.
It is not known how many incidents have been reported this year, but Asda said there had been a decrease.
Married couple Mark and Geraldine Ransford-kilpatrick have lived in Hyson Green for more than
20 years and use the Asda supermarket.
Mark, 49, said: “This park has always had drinkers in it and since then it has grown. I don’t know if the beggars are the drinkers.
“They are in the doorway of Asda. People beg for different reasons but when you walk into a shop and have to step over them, surely the security could step in?”
Geraldine, 48, said: “You are approached every time you go to Asda. Who has got spare cash? We are not living in West Bridgford, we are living in Hyson Green.
“We do give to them, but you feel pressured. I do really feel for them.”
Anita Henderson, 69, who lives in New Basford, regularly visits the Asda in Hyson Green.
She said: “I don’t like it but I ignore it. It is intimidating. Asda should move them on because the police are not doing anything.
“If it was my shop I would not let them be outside it.”
Neighbourhood Inspector Amy English, from Nottinghamshire Police, who covers the Hyson Green area, said this was “a priority” for her.
She said: “Antisocial behaviour including street drinking is one of my neighbourhood priorities for the Radford, Hyson Green and Arboretum areas.
“Over the last two months, we have upped patrols, specifically targeting street drinking, and our newly introduced Operation Reacher team has undertaken several proactive operations to engage with people who cause issues outside shops such as Asda.
“I have joined patrols and confiscated alcohol from those who have been street drinking too.
“I totally understand and appreciate community concerns around the issue. Our proactive approach to tackling it will continue in the coming months and we are already seeing positive results.”
A spokesman for Asda said: “We appreciate all of the efforts undertaken by the local neighbourhood authorities to ensure that the area around our store remains a safe place for people to visit and shop.
“We would like to thank Inspector Amy English and her colleagues for their work in this area.”