Concern has been expressed after windows were smashed and more graffiti appeared in a Nottinghamshire town blighted by anti-social behaviour. For years anti-social behaviour has been a problem for visitors and businesses in Newark, with Newark Police regularly patrolling the streets to tackle the issue as one of their key priorities.
Earlier this year new security gates were installed at Saint Marks Place to prevent access to an area known for anti-social behaviour, and help protect residents and workers in the area who have been left feeling unsafe. However, issues of anti-social behaviour are still ongoing in the town centre, with a number of windows being broken in recent weeks, including on the former M&S and the YMCA charity shop.
In November 2022, instances of anti-social behaviour were getting so bad that the manager of the charity shop had to lock herself inside the store to prevent a group of youths from coming in. The group has been regularly entering the store and breaching its rules by running around, sitting on display furniture, kicking windows, swearing and pulling faces at staff and customers, YMCA managers said.
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In addition to smashed windows in the town centre, multiple areas have also been affected by graffiti. This includes a number of empty units in Saint Marks Place and across the town centre.
Neighbourhood Inspector Charlotte Ellam said: “There has been several reports over the last few weeks of vandalism and anti-social behaviour in the town centre. Anti-social behaviour remains a top priority for us as we realise the impact this type of crime has on businesses and local people.
“Newark is a thriving town and is visited by many people all year round so it is really important that we ensure it remains that way. It is important to stress that much work is being done in the town centre to ensure the small minority who want to cause problems are dealt with.
“We believe the recent problems have been caused by a small group of people and we are working at identifying them. We have two new beat managers deployed in the area as well as a projects beat manager - a new role where their focus is working with businesses to deal with the issues directly affecting them."
She continued: “We also have funding for additional patrols in the town centre and working with a number of partners including Newark Town Council and Newark and Sherwood District Council to solve these problems. Some of the initiatives in the pipeline include review of and improvement of lighting and CCTV, enforcement of the Public Spaces Projection Order, and targeting offenders such as through Criminal Behaviour Orders which can see persistent offenders banned from the area.
“Some of this criminal damage will have been caused by children and therefore it is important that we work with other partner agencies to ensure we move them away from criminal activity into more positive and engaging activity. There is much great work going on behind the scenes to ensure that those who cause the most problems in Newark are dealt with accordingly.”
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