WHAT THE CITY COUNCIL AND POLICE SAY ....

A CITY council spokesperson said: “We are aware of a number issues within Charlotte Street car park which includes anti-social behaviour, littering and fly-tipping and are working to combat them.

“A full cleanse of the car park was carried out [on Wednesday, September 1] to remove the litter and waste and we continue to explore ways to reduce the litter and fly-tipping in the vicinity.

“Our public protection team regularly patrol the car park and a number of Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued relating to fly-tipping offences.

“We are also working in partnership with Derbyshire Police and other key stakeholders to improve the safety and cleanliness of the area.”

Inspector Keith Chambers said: “This car park has posed a problem for some time because it isn’t well-lit and its position is relatively out of public view.

“However, we have been working to tackle issues at Charlotte Street to improve the situation.

“Local police officers continue to work with the city council to address concerns around fly tipping, which has always been the main issue at this location.

“Officers regularly patrol the area to deal with anti-social behaviour and over the last three months, we have deployed a CCTV camera.

“Several people found urinating in the area have been prosecuted and over the last year, we have made several arrests in relation to drug use and drug supply.

“Charlotte Street is not regularly used for prostitution, but we accept that a low number of instances could be occurring and we address this with regular patrols.

“We will always act on information provided to us by the community and I would urge residents to continue to work with us to improve the situation.

“We are also working with our partners to address some concerns around the layout of the area. Several proposals are being considered which would have a major impact on the issues we currently face.”