Kids throwing bottles and causing havoc on city shopping street
THERE IS ‘DISORDER ALL THE TIME’ SAY LOCAL BUSINESSES
GROUPS of youths loitering on a city street have been causing misery for shopkeepers, throwing bottles at staff, making a mess of displays, and leaving behind a trail of litter.
Shop managers say groups have been meeting in Lincoln Street on Fridays and Sundays in recent weeks and have even threatened staff by getting behind the counter.
They also sometimes turn up during the week, particularly in the afternoon after school.
Arti Gupta, 50, works at Subway on Lincoln Street and says she has now learned how to deal with the incidents. She said: “We had someone throw a bottle at the window on Sunday [March 24]. I wasn’t on shift but my other colleague was. Most of the times it’s kids coming in and even going behind the counter. It doesn’t scare me personally but my colleague who’s older is always scared.
“They target her specifically on Fridays and Sundays, usually after 6pm. I did get teenagers coming in behind the counter once but I wasn’t scared because I know how to handle it.”
Chun Ying, 42, who works at another eatery on the street, said teenagers have thrown rubbish into the shop. She said: “Sometimes there’s lots of teenagers, running very fast. I assume they’re stealing. A few weeks ago we had teenagers throwing rubbish into our shop.”
A stall owner who sells clothes and wished to remain anonymous said elderly customers shelter at her stall as the incidents leave them fearful.
She said: “Groups of teenagers are always about, mainly at 3pm when school finishes.
“It’s just kids being kids but it scares the older ladies. The elderly feel intimidated and sometimes stay at my stall until they go. They (the children) come along and pull the trousers off my mannequins.”
Vikas Sharma, 43, who owns a food stall just off Lincoln Street, on Clinton Street West, explained that the street witnesses disorder “all the time”. He said: “Kids are smashing bottles and it usually happens after school in the afternoon. They come straight from there because they wear their uniforms.
“They’re just teenagers messing around. They were playing with a trolley yesterday. I don’t have time for them because I’m busy here.”
Atit Rai, 35, who works at the Momo on the Run stall, added: “It’s just disorder generally. We had a group of children throwing a bottle at a council car a few weeks ago, I don’t think anyone reported it to the police. We just heard a bang. It happened at around four or five in the afternoon.”
Four teenagers were arrested after a disturbance at one of the shops on the street on February 13. Police attended the incident at around 4.30pm following reports of a member of staff being assaulted.