There are still beggars, junkies and thugs out there

Shopkeepers told the Advertiser action can’t come soon enough as they described violent and disturbing scenes.

Complaints have been made regarding begging, drug use and alcohol abuse in the centre of Rotherham, even though it is already subject to a public spaces protection order outlawing most anti-social acts.

One trader told how he had seen one man punching another outside his shop.

“One man begs outside my shop and I have complained six times — and they (police and council wardens) have never come to challenge him or move him on,” he said.

“We need to get rid of these people as soon as possible.

“There are lots of police for a couple of days and these people disappear but as soon as the police go, they come back.

“They just move them on from one area to another.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone dedicated to the town any more — there needs to be someone responsible and taking charge of enforcement of the whole town as it’s going to go down the drain.”

The shopkeeper said begging was a “massive problem”, with two or three people asking him for money in the street every day.

“It’s been going on for two years and it’s bringing the town’s reputation down,” he added.

The trader said police had blamed a lack of resources and it was rare to see officers patrolling the streets.

“The criminals know this and as soon as the police go, they will be back again,” he said.

“People just don’t complain anymore if the police never get back to you

“We are still happy trading in the town but we need enforcement and improvement.

“We just need to get the criminality out of the town centre.”

Another long-standing shopkeeper said he was cautious about being negative about the town centre but had also become frustrated.

He said some customers were scared to come into the town centre in the afternoon due to the number of beggars and apparent drug users about and he had shifted back his opening hours to account for this.

The trader said he had recently seen two drug users “shooting up” behind his shop and often saw drugs being taken in the street.

Rotherham Council's strategic director for regeneration and environment, Paul Woodcock, said: “We are working with South Yorkshire Police and are committed to tackling these (anti-social behaviour) issues.

“Part of the community safety work we are focussing on includes investigating locations where drugs are handled, increasing CCTV and exploring ways CCTV lines can be improved, as well as looking into co-ordinating joint patrols between authorised officers to enforce matters such as the consumption of alcohol on the street.

“We are looking to increase frontline officers within the town centre to support our current littering enforcement staff to combat littering and increase visibility from both the council and police.”

Insp Liam Walters said: “We have a dedicated policing plan in place in terms of our approach to street begging and anti-social behaviour and the town centre is regularly patrolled by both uniformed and plain clothes officers.

“This means that while the public may not always see a visible policing presence, they can rest assured that our officers are there gathering information and intelligence so that we can better direct our resources and have the most significant impact.”

Insp Walters said police officers had the power to disperse individuals from an area and enforcement action had been taken against several people who had received community protection notices, with criminal behaviour orders also in the toolkit.

He added: “This is an ongoing issue and one that we will continue to work with the community in addressing — I am really keen to hear from local businesses about their concerns and it’s my hope that we will be able to meet soon and discuss how we can work together.”