“I’m petrified” mum fears for own and daughter’s safety in Rotherham town centre amid anti-social behaviour

A Rotherham mother has said she fears for her own and daughter’s safety when walking around Rotherham town centre.

Rachel Johnson, 50, living in East Dene, Rotherham has said she doesn’t feel safe in the town centre, even during the day.

As a mum she worries for her 18-year-old daughter Dakota’s safety too.

“I recently went into town meeting my daughter so she could get her nails done. I’m petrified to think of Dakota in town even in the afternoon.

“I’d not been for years and the first time I went I got asked for cigarettes and money, and that was just coming out of the bus station,” she said.

“Her dad and I take her to and from work because she doesn’t feel safe at Rotherham bus station.”

In November 2025, Rotherham Council announced the new Street Safe team of 10 officers, backed by £570,000 of funding to patrol high streets and town centre hotspots.

The officer patrols are part of the council’s plans to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and support police.

Officers in the team have powers to enforce Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) to tackle anti-social issues such as street drinking and nuisance parking.

Rachel says she doesn’t have confidence in the officers to make any visible difference.

“You need people who can stand with authority and do something, rather than just sit back, film it, then report it.”

Official data by South Yorkshire Police shows that for Rotherham as a whole, 514 incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported in June, 2026.

18.07 per cent of all incidents reported in Rotherham to the police were regarding anti-social behaviour, according to official South Yorkshire Police figures.

Of the 2,844 total reported crimes across Central, South and North sectors, 514 were flagged as anti-social behaviour in June.

Rotherham North saw 16.23 per cent of reported incidents be ASB, 125 out of 770 total reported incidents for June, 2026.

For Rotherham Central, 198 incidents out of 1,171 were ASB. That is 16.91 per cent of all reported crimes in this area for the month.

Rotherham South saw the highest percentage with 21.15 per cent of incidents reporting being ASB. This was 191 out of a total of 903 for the area in June.

Sam Barstow, service director for community safety and street scene at Rotherham Council, said: “We know that people have concerns about feelings of safety, so in addition to the improvements to public spaces that we’re making and additional street cleaning activity, we introduced the Street Safe team to provide a friendly welcoming face on our high streets.

“That commitment has been matched by additional regular police patrols on foot. And while we rely on the police to intervene in any criminal wrongdoing, our Street Safe team has issued dozens of fixed penalty notices against anti-social behaviour,” he said.

“Anti-social behaviour won’t be fixed by any one service in isolation, we’ve all got to address it together. We’d encourage anyone with concerns to speak to the team directly, but of course in an emergency anyone should always dial 999.”