Anti-social behaviour on a popular Cardiff high street has reached the point where customers are afraid to walk down the road and businesses are suffering. Cowbridge Road East in Canton has had problems with street drinking for years but one pub landlord said it's now so bad that people have defecated on his doorstep and verbally abused his partner, as well as grabbing customers' drinks through the window of his pub.
Cowbridge Road East is home to a number of independent businesses and has seen issues with anti-social behaviour on the benches outside Tesco Express, from people drinking and swearing at passers-by, for over two years. Police have been issuing dispersal notices to try and remedy the behaviour, and confirmed that several arrests had already been made after an "increased uniformed presence" in the area.
But local business owners and managers said the problem has continued. One, who did not want to be named, said: "It's been really bad and it's driving people out of town. Local people come in here complaining about swearing and fighting, and ambulances and police being called up.
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"It's the behaviour, the language they use, and the fact that it's a daily occurrence. It's when they're drinking that it's really bad, and some of them have come in here to shoplift.
"The abuse has been very direct. I've seen them swearing at people, and we had someone in our shop a couple of weeks ago effing and blinding and using the 'C word.'
"Local people have said to us that they don't shop here anymore. It's quite intimidating, especially for the older people. We've got three schools around here too, and this road is on the school run."
Richard, the branch manager of long-standing greengrocers Laura's Fruit and Veg, said: "You've got a group of probably 40 different faces that tend to be there.
"People come to Canton to pick up uniforms from the sports shop. It might have been the only time they've come to Canton, and it might end up being the only time they come to Canton with people effing and blinding."
Richard said the area - which he dubs "the Spaghetti Junction of Canton" has had a number of recent blows when it comes to retail. Between the closure of restaurants and shops like Radiocraft in recent years, the challenges of lockdown, and the recent price rises in Tesco Express.
And he said the police, despite putting in the effort, haven't been able to solve the issue. In recent months, police have issued a dispersal notice, "introduced" several offenders to the anti-social behaviour process and made several arrests, as well as introducing people to the relevant support services.
Richard explained that when drinkers are ordered to leave the area, they come back almost immediately. He said: "It seems to be a game of cat and mouse... I'm not sure that it's working.
"The police try and help but there are parts of the day when they're not about, and the people come back about four times. I'm having to apologise to the people I'm serving."
So what can the police actually do about it? Local police inspector Ben Davies said: "We are keenly aware of the impact anti-social behaviour can have on local communities and the frustration that street drinking can cause. We have stepped up our approach to tackling problem areas on Cowbridge Road East, including daily patrols by my neighbourhood team.
"For those persistent street drinkers my officers can issue Community Protection Notices (CPNs). A CPN can be served under the Crime and Policing Act 2014 if the conduct of an individual aged 16 or over is unreasonable and is having a detrimental effect on the local community’s quality of life.
"There is a further dispersal order in place for this weekend and my Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) will be running an operation which is aimed at dispersing on street drinkers. These dispersal orders assist with the immediate problems anti-social behaviour can cause, but we are looking at the longer term help we can give people, alongside our partners at the council, through outreach programs and other services.
"We will always try to engage, educate and deter those involved in ASB, but when appropriate we will not hesitate to make arrests. Dispersal notices have reduced the level of ASB in the area but we will continue to work with local partner agencies to tackle this problem and reduce the impact this is having on local people."
John Sampson, landlord of the Tafarn Treganna pub, said all the local pubs have banned "every single one" of the offenders," but they're still putting customers off. He added: "These people harass customers and try to grab their drinks through the window.
"We've had people come in to play a game of pool and say they're not sticking around because of 'all that.' There are people who are afraid to walk past."
Mr Sampson said the pub is being closed for unrelated reasons, but that if their takings were higher - an issue not helped by the anti-social behaviour - the story could have been different. He also said the behaviour was "a waste of police and ambulance resources."
He added: "They use my personal flat doorstep as a toilet, defecating and urinating. They’ve given personal abuse to my partner."
These same themes came up with several shopkeepers who didn't want to be named because they were worried about trouble as a result. One said the behaviour was driving businesses away, said: "It’s very bad. They are entitled to do whatever they like but it’s too much.
"You try to say something and they phone the police on you! I don’t phone the police. They do their best but I feel I shouldn’t be phoning them for this. They have more important work to do than dealing with somebody drunk."
When asked what could be done to fix the issue, one shopkeeper, who did not want to be named, laughed and said: "Don't make me go there!" It's important to remember that these people are often vulnerable and police will refer them to support services, but it's clear that the problem is far from being solved.
However, there's still an element of goodwill from some staff. Richard, of Laura's Greengrocers, said: "They're not bad people. Any individual over there is not a bad person."
But something needs to be done, and a few different ideas are floating around. Richard wants the area marked as an alcohol-free zone, saying: "There’s a sign that says no loading - if we put up signs like that saying: ‘this area is an alcohol free zone,’ it then gives the general public a bit of confidence and authority to tell people they shouldn’t be drinking there."
He doesn't want the benches taken away - whereas Mr Sampson, the Tafarn Treganna landlord, said: "All the benches have got to be removed." He admitted this was a "last resort," especially for the older people using them, but said it had to be done.
Others mentioned that some local traders, including a window-cleaner, have been offering casual work to the people outside Tesco, to give them something to do rather than drink and to get some money in their pockets, and one shopkeeper asked whether the council could back a similar scheme.
Some said that the people drinking "just need somewhere to go," bemoaning the loss of the original Canton Community Centre, which is set to be turned into a block of flats that will include a flexible community space.
One shop worker said: "It’s quite a tricky one because there’s nowhere with a shelter that they can go so there’s only space in the open. When it’s hot or cold out they’re probably drinking more to solve that problem."
We reached out to the ward councillors for Canton and Riverside (the two wards that Cowbridge Road East sits on the boundary of) but did not receive a reply.
In August, Riverside councillor Leonora Thomson said: "The behaviour is small scale in terms of the number of perpetrators involved but it's very unpleasant for those who are affected by it, including all passers-by going about their shopping or mums and young kids.
"It's just about every day at the moment. It tends to be people who are very drunk by early to mid-afternoon, drinking outside, and it often ends in hurling abuse at passers-by; not always targeted abuse but it often ends in an unpleasant situation and it's at a very key junction."
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