Police hail success of public safety orders - but town centre trader says force is 'hiding the truth'

A public safety protection order (PSPO) was introduced in Rotherham town centre and Clifton Park last year to crack down on begging, street drinking and other behaviour like spitting.

South Yorkshire Police said anti-social behaviour was down 27 per cent on a year ago, and Chief Supt Rob Odell said other areas could soon have their own order.

But one town centre trader, who asked not to be named, said he still regularly saw problems with street drinking in particular.

“It feels as if the statistics published by South Yorkshire Police are hiding the truth,” he said.

“I’ve been constantly told by the police that incidents are only logged if you call and report them via 101. 

“However, the sheer amount of time it takes to get through to 101 means that we can be waiting on the phone for over an hour - that’s an hour which my business needs to trade. 

“It’s not the fault of the local team - the local town centre wardens and local police officers are doing a great job on limited resources, but the issue is that they only work for limited hours, and many of those instances are not reported in the offical figures because they are dealt with in a different way. 

“Outside of these times incidents are not being dealt with.

“I employ a number of people in the town and they leave work feeling threatened, frightened and intimidated.”

The businessman said he had to call the police regularly to complain of public urination, swearing and drug dealing.

“When the police and wardens do intervene, these people simply disappear, head back to the shop, buy more booze and head somewhere else,” he said.

“I set up my business in Rotherham because I wanted to try and make a positive difference to the town, but we’re reaching breaking point. 

“It’s high time that the police and council sent out a stark message that this behaviour will not be tolerated.”

Mr Odell said the order had been introduced to allow police to act more successfully against those who caused problems in the town centre.

There had been a downward trend in problems as a result, he said, adding: “Our intention is to look at where PSPOs might be relevant elsewhere in the borough.”