The Curry Mile is a unique institution of which Manchester has been proud for decades - and you'll do well to find a resident who hasn't had a memorable time here.
The stretch of Wilmslow Road, which is in reality only about half-a-mile long, has given this section of Rusholme just south of the university an international reputation, an illustration of the city's spirit of enterprise and diversity.
However, some of those who know it best say robberies, drugs, and aggressive begging are taking the shine off this neon-lit stretch of south Manchester.
Abdullah Albaydar's family has been running restaurant Al Jazeera for more than 30 years. He told the Manchester Evening News that the Curry Mile's "gone downhill" - amid robberies, rubbish, drugs and aggressive begging.
His friend and fellow business owner Muhammad Khader agrees. He has been running the Jafra restaurant as well as a local cash and carry for a number of years.
"You can see drug dealing happening in plain sight. They don’t even try to hide it anymore. Sometimes you see them with knives too," Muhammad said.
"Large groups also intimidate the shop and restaurant owners. It’s happened to me before, large groups of people coming into the restaurant, I’ve had to defend myself before."
Abdullah says more visible policing is needed. "There’s a lot of gangs and crime here now, it’s not for families anymore," he said. "We need more police.
"It can get really busy here, especially at weekends, but you hardly see any police. If you go to places in the city centre there’s always loads of police, but they’re not as busy as here. I've seen people get mugged right in front of the shop.
"I don’t think it would take a lot for police to be here. It’s not a long road but it would make such a difference having some kind of presence."
Greater Manchester Police say they take a 'zero tolerance' approach to crime in the area, have increased the use of stop and search, and have been meeting with locals and businesses about how they can help them.
Muhammad added: "Crime seems to be spilling over from Rusholme and Moss Side to the Curry Mile now, which it never used to.
"You see robberies happening regularly, I have to meet delivery drivers outside otherwise people come and steal the stock straight away."
"We’re paying a lot in rent and business rates but we are not getting any help at all," Muhammad went on. "There’s often homeless people on the streets harassing customers for money. Often they are very threatening. I've found people sleeping in my toilets."
Abdullah added: "There isn’t enough bins. You see rats around here all the time now. The pavements are always dirty.
"Police and council don’t seem to care. But I can guarantee that if I didn’t pay my rates they’d be here as quickly as they could."
The council say they are committed to working with police to tackling anti-social behaviour in the area, urge people to report fly-tipping and that at the end of last year they launched a project 'exploring how the Rusholme District Centre could be improved and what could be done to support existing residents and businesses'. They've promised it will be developed further throughout the spring 'to find effective solutions to current issues businesses are reporting.'
This cocktail of problems was compounded in recent months by a spate of power cuts affecting the block where Muhammad and Abdullah's businesses are. Power would regularly go out at peak times, they say, and left them with no choice but to ask customers to leave - all at a time when their energy bills have both risen by thousands of pounds.
"I don't think any businesses here can be making money anymore," Abdullah said.
"People come expecting to see a really good atmosphere. Families come from all over the north and the rest of the world, Dubai, Singapore, at the weekend because they’ve heard it’s a good place for them without the usual pubs and alcohol. But they don’t come back because of these kinds of problems.
"We get people here who come from abroad after hearing about the famous Curry Mile in Manchester but they are so disappointed once they get here."
Muhammad added: "It used to be a really beautiful place, really amazing with a great atmosphere, but it’s gone so downhill over the last few years."
Responding to the complaints about power cuts, a spokesperson for Electricity North West said: “Recently, engineers have carried out repair work on an underground electricity cable on Wilmslow Road following two faults which affected customers.
"Engineers then returned to the area to carry out a permanent repair and to do this, traffic management plans were in place so engineers could work in the road safely. All of our plans were agreed with the council in advance and repair work on the underground cable is now complete."
What the council says:
A spokesperson for Manchester City Council told the Manchester Evening News: “The Curry Mile is a destination in Manchester that is not just nationally renowned, but internationally. It is an expression of the diversity found in our city which as a Council we are incredibly proud of.
"Since the Covid-19 pandemic there have been a range of issues which the hospitality and entertainment sector have faced, compounded by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
"We appreciate how difficult times are currently for businesses throughout the city. The Council has done its utmost to extend support to businesses throughout this crisis, supporting the roll out of grants during the pandemic, and more recently setting aside £8m to help residents affected by the cost-of-living crisis.
"Looking to the future, at the end of 2022 the Council embarked on a piece of work exploring how the Rusholme District Centre could be improved and what could be done to support existing residents and businesses. This will be developed further through the spring of 2023 to find effective solutions to current issues businesses are reporting.
"Street cleansing and waste management are issues which affect wards across the entire city, not just in Rusholme. And the Council is intensely aware of the negative impact of crimes such as fly-tipping and is swift to remove dumped waste as soon as we are made aware of it.
"We’d encourage residents who are experiencing issues around fly-tipping to contact the Council as soon as possible, as a great deal of enforcement work we do is due to resident intelligence.
"In regard to the activity of illegal shisha bars the Council has been proactive in clamping down on their spread and has had several recent successful prosecutions against premises that were found to have flouted planning rules as well as public health law.
"We will continue to work alongside our partners at Greater Manchester Police to address any reports of criminality or anti-social behaviour which may affect residents."
What Greater Manchester Police says:
Chief Inspector Stephen Wiggins said: "As part of a concerted effort to better understand what residents want from their local police service, neighbourhood officers have been meeting with residents and local businesses more frequently in the last few months to seek their views on what really matters to them and what they want to see from their local constabulary.
"Police and Communities Together (PACT) is an initiative where officers meet at central locations within the community and agree to focus on three key priorities raised by residents themselves each month, with a view to providing regular updates to them at future meetings.
"We would strongly advise those who are concerned about the area to attend as everyone is welcome and we endeavour to understand the local issues taking positive action.
"We also recently executed numerous warrants in conjunction with Trading Standards regarding illicit tobacco, which also saw the recovery of money and drugs, and arrests made.
"Trading standards has also recently run a campaign in Greater Manchester raising public awareness around illegal trading and asking the public to report sales so we may get more intelligence coming in.
"As part of the engagement with residents, Manchester City Council completed a successful bid to the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund and included investment in initiatives, such as street lighting and home security.
"MCC and GMP also completed outreach work through a community facilitator programme whereby residents and businesses were able to feed back to the council about proposed changes, or what elements are required to create safer neighbourhoods.
"From this we also intend on resurrecting our previous business watch scheme which was previously successful with businesses. Neighbourhood officers are also well aware as to the harm and damage drug supply has on communities and as such, take a zero-tolerance approach on all matters linked to any crime in the area.
"This has led to officers carrying out more stop-and-search within the locality, which has seen an increased number of intelligence submissions and arrests targeting organised criminals.
"We have also utilised our specialist teams including XCalibre anti-gang unit and our Violence Reduction Unit, which deploy in high-visibility or plain clothes to prevent and detect serious crime."
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