York traders have reported a growing sense of lawlessness in the city centre in recent weeks.
They have noticed a clear rise in low-level crime and antisocial behaviour as the days get longer and the nights lighter.
Concerns are particularly focused on petty crime and youth disturbances, which business owners say are becoming increasingly shameless.
Christian Taylor, owner of The Taylor Made Kitchen at the Shambles Food Court, recently confronted a teenage thief after catching him red-handed stealing a T-shirt from a nearby stall.
Christian and two others apprehended the boy and contacted the police.
However, they were told to let him go as no officers were available to attend.
Since then, Christian says he has observed an escalating pattern of antisocial behaviour in the area, particularly on weekends.
“We see a lot of younger people drinking in the market, using it almost like a social club. They climb on the stalls, bring glass bottles and smash them. It’s getting worse.”
Christian says some youths have even urinated and defecated around the market stalls.
“There’s all sorts that goes on, sexual acts are performed, you name it, it happens,” he added.
The business has motion sensor CCTV cameras, so the staff can observe what’s happening.
Christian feels Shambles Market’s location draws trouble. “It’s not necessarily off the beaten track, but it is slightly hidden, so it naturally encourages people to sit there out of the way. They’ve started bringing speakers, it’s almost like a party.
“They turn up with alcohol and bags of food, and all the litter just gets left all over,” he told YorkMix.
Christian explained that the traders don’t mind if the space was utilised in a cleaner and more appropriate manner, but it’s got to a point where enough is enough.
“I don’t know what action could be done to make it a safer, more friendly and cleaner environment, but something needs to happen.”
Traders have met with North Yorkshire Police, who Christian said are “fully behind them,” but a long-term solution remains unclear.
“Is it a police problem? A parenting problem? A society problem? I don’t really know.”
One suggestion from Christian was the use of a mosquito sound device — a high-frequency noise only audible to people under 25, designed to deter loitering.
However, the proposal was rejected by City of York Council. “It’s a non-aggressive, cost-effective solution,” he said. “But we weren’t allowed to install it.”
Jane Mowat, Head of Community Safety at City of York Council, said:
“As a city, we are proud of our how safe and welcoming our night-time economy is. We are one of the safest cities in the UK, and more importantly, visitors have recognised this and return year on year to enjoy the range of activities on offer. York’s popularity as a safe and welcoming city has been recognised by the international Purple Flag award, a credit to the many businesses who contribute to, and benefit from, our vibrant night-time economy.
“We know the behaviour of a small minority can be intimidating and, on occasions, inappropriate. The vast majority of visitors respect the city and the people who live here, and their spending helps make York one of the strongest destination economies in the country.
“To continue to keep our city welcoming to all, we have worked with partners including the York BID and Visit York on campaigns like Choose Respect, Not Regrets to encourage people to think about how alcohol can affect their behaviour, to consider the choices they make and the possible negative outcomes. York is a wonderful place to visit and offers a great range of activities for those looking to enjoy themselves in a safe and respectful way.
“Tackling anti-social behaviour is a priority for Safer York Partnership, the Community Safety Partnership for York. We are working with partners in North Yorkshire Police and York BID to address issues caused by a minority of individuals who are responsible for behaviour which impacts on our visitors, residents and businesses in the City Centre.
“Whilst mosquitos are not illegal in the UK, City of York Council does not install them or encourage their use because to be effective the device would be audible 24/7 and therefore impact on any individual who is sensitive to the signal, irrespective of whether they were involved in anti-social behaviour or not. As a council we support alternative means of addressing antisocial behaviour that does not create no-go areas in the city, particularly for children and young people.”
‘Totally unashamed’
Adam Scott, who owns the Shambles Sweet Shop, said he has also witnessed more antisocial behaviour than usual, particularly since the Easter holidays.
“For me, it’s just a real visible rise of young kids kicking off and being totally unashamed about it,” he told YorkMix.
Adam recalled a walk home during a recent Bank Holiday weekend where every 10–20 metres he witnessed a disturbance.
“There was something all the way through town. People kicking off, having fights and shouting, kids up to no good, guys urinating in the street and it just kept going on all the way through town. I just thought, what is happening here?” he explained.
He says individual incidents aren’t enough to call the police about, “they’ve got better things to be doing”, but something needs to be done.
“It’s low-level nonsense, I did see the police intervene the other day when I saw some teenagers trying to kick pigeons on Parliament Street,” he said.
It’s the growing lack of boundaries that Adam is concerned about, and noted a increase in casual drug use in the area.
“The smell of weed has increased. When I was a kid, there was plenty of weed, but down the middle of a busy street?
“A few weeks ago, I saw a lad riding his bike with a spliff down the middle of Church Street. He’s on a bike, so he’s too young to be driving a car and he thinks it’s okay to smoke a spliff going down the street. Once that’s OK, what’s not OK?” he added.
Adam praised the team from York Business District (York BID) for all of their efforts in clearing up and managing the anti-social behaviour.
“Without the BID and the Street Rangers, I don’t really know what businesses would do,” he said.
York Street Rangers, who are supplied by York BID, patrol the city centre between 9am and 6pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-8pm Friday and Saturday, and 11am-5pm on Sunday.
“They tend to finish around eight o’clock, which is peak time when people are coming into the market,” Christian said.
“It’d be great on Fridays and Saturdays if we could get Street Rangers to patrol on an evening. But obviously there’s funding and costs involved in doing that.”
New night-time support
Carl Alsop, Operations Manager at York BID, said the team welcomes trader feedback and shares their concerns.
He urged the public to report all anti-social incidents to police, even if they seem minor.
“The rangers have limited powers. The police can deal with incidents more fully. If crimes aren’t reported, it creates a rosier picture, and that could affect future police resourcing,” he said.
Carl however was pleased to announce a new initiative aimed at supporting York’s night-time economy.
“We’ve just secured some funding from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for a new initiative called Night Time Marshals who will be out in the city on a Friday and Saturday evening,” Carl told YorkMix.
The Night Time Marshals will launch in July and patrol from 8pm to 2am, taking over from the Street Rangers.
“They’ll be there to minimise the impact of crime and social behaviour at those times, and work hand in hand with the police,” he added.
In response to the praise for the BID team, Carl said: “It’s great to get this kind of feedback as we know how hard the rangers work.
“It’s especially important at the moment so close to our ballot.
“In the next few months we need businesses to vote on the future of the BID whatever their feeling. Those that value this initiative need to vote to ensure these services are here next year.”