Morrisons has banned children from one of its supermarkets in a town reportedly swamped by youth crime.
Teachers warned police that they "will never have enough" officers to deal with the level of youth crime and antisocial behaviour in Whitefield, Greater Manchester.
Unaccompanied school children are not allowed into the town's Morrisons following an arson attack which endangered the lives of an estimated 160 people who were in store at the time.
One Morrisons worker told Manchester Evening Live that several complaints were made to the store where parents spat at staff.
But he explained that he has a duty of care to his staff who come to work to "sell beans" and not to deal with people threatening to "stab the trolley lad."
Almost 100 staff members and around 60 shoppers were evacuated at the Morrisons store on the day of the arson attack, according to the worker.
"It could have been horrific," he said.
The policy has since relaxed but security staff are still stopping large groups of youngsters from entering the store, he added.
He also told how he could not get the guards to ask customers to remove their hoods and masks because it might become problematic or cause a fight which they cannot have with "90-year-old" shoppers nearby.
Earlier in March, a Police and Communities Together meeting took place at the Morrisons Cafe following the ban and arson attack.
A deputy headteacher who attended the meeting urged for parents "to step up" in order to tackle issues in the area.
"It just seems like a real shame for a lot of the children," she said.
"My son is 15 and is in Year 10. He was gutted when he couldn't go to Morrisons.
"There are a lot of great kids in Whitefield and it's a shame because of these kids."
Another staff member at Philips High School told the meeting how "the police are always in school" but that they "will never have enough in the area" to combat youth crime levels.
She said "it doesn't matter how many police there are" with students using WhatsApp and Snapchat to warn each other where officers are.
"The wider issue we have is the clothes they wear," she added and encouraged Morrisons to implement a policy where children cannot wear hoods and masks in the store.
She stressed that the majority of the school's 900 students are "amazing" but that a "small minority" tarnish their reputation.
The secondary school runs workshops on anti-social behaviour to prepare them for life outside school but the staff member admitted "there's only so much we can do."
If officers visit the school with CCTV or a photo, she said that staff do their best to identify the student.
She added: "We never shy away from it. If ever a member of the public comes in with a photo we will deal with it."
Sgt Dickinson previously explained that Whitefield has just four PCSOs and that they move officer around so that they spend 15 minutes in each location to create the illusion that "the police are everywhere."
Sarah, a teacher who lives near the Morrisons, said that issues at the store are "not a recent thing."
She added: "It's been building and building and building over a long period of time."
Other workers in the area agreed that anti-social behaviour is an issue, but one mainly contained to the supermarket.
Joanna Jaszczak, who works at a nearby tanning shop, said: "It's mostly just talking back to the security guards. They are scaring staff and it is happening more and more."
Euan Adams, who works at a local bookmakers, said: "They can be a pain. One of them called me a condom. They are just very loud, screaming and shouting. We get called weird stuff and they say there's a bomb scare. They're messy, generally."
However, staff at neighbouring Subway said the anti-social behaviour problem has largely subsided since the pandemic began.
Some residents at the March 15 meeting said that the children have nowhere else to go other than the tram stop and Morrisons.
Youth worker Lisa Davies said that Bury Council used to have youth centres everywhere and "that's needed."
She also said that the council used to have around 50 youth workers and is now down to four.
"We haven't got the buildings now because Bury Council sold them. If anyone has any buildings we can use let me know please," she added.
"We want them back open and that is exactly what we need."
The Mirror Online has contacted Morrisons and Bury Council for comment.
