Bus shelter yobs banished . . . for now

RELIEVED residents living near to a bus stop which has become a regular haunt of teenage gangs and a target for vandalism have praised measures that may have brought an end to the problem.

But this week it emerged that the removal of the bench and  glass panels from the shelter on High Street, Kimberworth, had not come as part of a scheme to combat anti-social behaviour as many had hoped.

The work has been carried out as part of work to move the shelter away from a zebra crossing that has been introduced nearby.

“Everyone was relieved to see the glass and the bench come out. The gangs have been driven away in one fell swoop because it no longer offers them the shelter it did,” said one resident living nearby.

“But if they erect another just a few yards up the road the problems will return.

“The amount of times the glass panels have been replaced over the years is hard to believe and the kids that gather in there smear pizza and food all over and drop rubbish—it’s disgusting.

“The people that should benefit from a shelter barely ever get chance to stand in there because it’s usually in such a state. We’d rather have no shelter than a vandalised eyesore.”

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive revealed that an all-new bus shelter would be erected further along High Street as soon as the move was approved by planners.

The scheme is currently subject to a consultation process and Kimberworth residents can lodge their comments about the installation of the bus stop by contacting the SYPTE.

An employee at Albany Computers, on nearby Fellowsfield Way, said: “There is no way they should build another bus stop to replace that one.

“A bus stop like that becomes nothing more than a shelter for gangs of youths in the evenings.

“The Transport Executive must have spent a fortune replacing glass over the past ten years.”

A spokesman for the SYPTE said: “We were very aware of the vandalism problems but they were not something that was happening all the time.

“Having said that, we hope that there won’t be a return to those kinds of problems when the bus shelter is reinstated.”

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