Sex on the stairs, drugs in toilets and thieves on the loose
REMAINING VICTORIA CENTRE MARKET TRADERS SPEAK OUT
PEOPLE having sex, using drugs and stealing are among nuisances reported at the Victoria Centre Market in recent months as one trader says they need “eyes in the back of their head.”
Ahead of the market’s imminent closure, which Nottingham City Council plans to go ahead with this summer, some of the remaining traders say they can’t even leave their stands unattended to go to the toilet.
Carole Lilley, 65, has been trading at the market, which opened in 1971, for nearly 40 years and runs Carole’s, an underwear stall. She said: “I don’t want to be in this kind of working environment. I sometimes have to wait for hours if I want to go to the toilet so that the stall isn’t left, because there is nobody else around me now.”
The trader says she has seen someone injecting heroin in the market’s toilets and has also heard of couples having sex in the stairwell leading up to the market.
With theft also a big issue, Carole’s is losing around £50-worth of stock every week.
Ms Lilley said: “I’ve been cashing in my pension and one day last week I only took £17. Nottingham City Council should not be treating people like this after they’ve been here for 38 years.”
The majority of Victoria Centre Market stalls are now empty as uncertainty continues about its future. Although the city council has pledged closure this summer, some traders say that no further details have been given.
The traders were first told the council would surrender its lease on February 24, 2022, with some having signed compensation offers and arranged new premises. But the date came and it was eventually confirmed that negotiations with Global Mutual, asset managers of the market, had fallen through.
The state of limbo continued until December 11 last year when the council said it wanted to close the market this summer. The council said negotiations with Global Mutual had been “both complex and protracted” and that talks would continue over the end of the lease agreement, which the council says would have cost it £39m over the next 50 years.
Another remaining business hit by theft is Aladdin’s Cave and Sharon Manning, whose partner owns it, said: “It’s the same people who keep coming back and, even though this is a small shop, you need eyes in the back of your head.
“We have probably lost about £150worth in the last few weeks, but it’s just something we have to keep an eye out for. This is the third generation of my partner’s family business and he doesn’t want to let them down, so we keep it going.”
Police have not yet commented on the thefts, despite being approached by the Post. The council has also not commented, despite Carole Lilley calling on it to invest more in security.
She says that 20 years ago there were three security staff for the market. The council says it has not employed security staff specifically for the market for at least the last seven years, apart from during the pandemic.
A centre spokesperson said: “We want all parts of our centre to be a safe and welcoming environment for shoppers and this involves our own mall security team offering additional support to retailers and their own security teams when needed. Victoria Centre Market is run by Nottingham City Council. Like all of our retailers, the council, as the operator of the market, is responsible for providing sufficient security for the unit.”
Nottingham City Council should not be treating people like this after they’ve been here for 38 years Carole Lilley