Why Dinnington is declaring war on antisocial behaviour which plagues the town

It’s 7pm on a Monday, and I’m sitting in a slightly dilapidated hall in Dinnington. Fireworks are loudly bursting outside, but it’s not bonfire night.

“It’s like a warzone," one local trader says to me.

A meeting has been called to discuss the ongoing blight of antisocial behaviour that has plagued Dinnington for months. Businesses have been vandalised, residents have been harassed and vehicles have been set on fire. 

People are at their wit’s end - fed up with being unable to go outside at night and scared for others in the town. They feel ignored by the police, overlooked by the council and cast out from the rest of the county. Finally, after weeks of trying to do something, parish councillors have managed to get representatives from Rotherham Council and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) to sit down with them for a public forum.

“Thank you all for coming,” says Julia Hall, a parish councillor and business owner. She sits behind a sterile fold-out table in the middle of the hall which has become tonight’s base of operations. Beside her are two fellow parish councillors, Dinnington ward Councillor Amanda Clarke, SYMCA deputy mayor Kilvinder Vigurs and South Yorkshire Police Sergeant Lee Woolley. The line-up feels more like a war cabinet than a parish meeting, and with good reason.

Residents of Dinnington have faced an onslaught of abuse and harassment over the last few months, centred around the high street and the outdoor market between it and the bus station. But the trouble has extended to the local supermarket, where cars carrying babies have had things launched at them, and to houses across the town where burning projectiles have been launched at doors.

The meeting begins in a civil manner, but everyone is clearly eager to have their voices heard.

Discussion begins around the danger that the masked kids are posing to vulnerable people in Dinnington.

Chris Roadhouse, co-owner of the Roadhouse pub on the high street, says “It’s like Gotham. It’s horrendous. I’ve got staff being threatened with rape, I’ve got fireworks going off indoors.”

Chris tells the crowd that he had a firework thrown at his shop window and explode against the door. It was only down to the reinforced safety glass he had installed that the explosive didn’t get inside.

Safe to say that after that “it cleared out.”

Residents aren’t just worried in the abstract. One pipes up to tell a tale of someone being knocked over by a high-powered e-bike just last week. Another says he’s been harassed whilst taking groups of schoolchildren across the road. The fear is that action will only come once damage has been done. Local campaigner Paul Vernon says: “All it needs is one old lady coming out a bank. If they kill someone, then they might act on it.”

The disturbance is widespread and endemic, without a clear cause. Residents tell me the same children seem to gather in large groups around the market and find new ways of causing destruction every night.

The night before the meeting an industrial wheelie bin was dragged into the stalls and set alight, melting the entire thing. Residents say they no longer even bother to report things to the police, because they know the police won’t come.

“As a town we’re underreporting, we must be,” Cllr Clarke says. Mr Vernon adds: “The main thing from the public perspective is that nothing happens.” Voices raise across the room saying that neither the police nor council seem to be acting, and that more needs to be done. Measures are floated such as drones and increased police presence, but the practical difficulties are hard to ignore.

“A lot of antisocial behaviour is harder to detect.

"There are issues with children not behaving in the right way, there are issues with enforcement,” Kilvander Virgus says.

She explains that where CCTV is not available, there is often little they can do to help. The police are doing everything they can, eager to help out but struggling just as much as everyone else. “We need to establish a routine here, it’s like a drum beat. Give them the intelligence, give them the ammunition and they’ll act on it.”

This meeting was not the first time I had been to Dinnington. I came just three days ago at the request of several of the councillors who were lost as to where to turn.

As soon as I arrived on Friday I was thrust into the market to find graffiti on walls and broken glass under stalls. Nobody else even batted an eyelid, seemingly so used to the vandalism that they carried on like it wasn’t happening.

As I walked into Julia’s boutique on the high street, an informal gathering was taking place amongst staff and customers, chatting about the latest wave of devastation.

Julia says: “They’re not frightened like we were, they don’t care - there’s no respect. I went out to talk to them the other day, and whilst I was talking to them last week they were graffitting.

“Half of you thinks there's no hope, but then we’ve got to fight for our village. It’s a lovely little town, we’ve got independent businesses, we’ve got a regeneration that’s eventually going to come,” Julia adds. Dinnington is in the midst of a regeneration plan by Rotherham Council, with £13.3m allocated to transform the high street and the market.

The Council’s plan itself accepts that “the current layout and condition of the Scheme land as outlined above has been identified as a key factor in the poor public perceptions of the area, leading to reduced trips to the town centre particularly in the evening.” It adds: “The new town square will alleviate instances of anti-social behaviour, through the creation of open spaces which promote passive surveillance and create a safe and welcoming environment.” It ends: “There is a clear and immediate need to intervene.”

Rotherham Council have responded to the concerns of the residents.

Andrew Bramidge, executive director of regeneration and environment at Rotherham Council,  "Since April 2026, the Council's Street Safe team has carried out more than 600 hours of patrols in the Dinnington High Street area and undertaken 55 out-of-hours visits in response to concerns raised by residents and local businesses.

“During the same period, the team has issued 10 informal warnings and interventions alongside formal enforcement actions including a Community Protection Notice. Through the use of body-worn cameras, officers are also able to capture evidence of incidents and persistent issues, helping to build cases for enforcement action and support partner agencies. Council services have also responded to 27 service requests relating to environmental issues and anti-social behaviour.

"This work forms part of a broader programme of enforcement and prevention activity delivered with partner organisations. A partnership action plan is in place for the area, with joint operations focused on engaging with young people, diverting them away from anti-social behaviour and, where appropriate, taking enforcement action. Council and police teams continue to work closely together through targeted patrols, CCTV operations, engagement with local retailers and coordinated enforcement activity.

"While reports of anti-social behaviour have reduced from previous peaks, we recognise that some residents and businesses continue to have concerns. We will continue to maintain a visible presence in the area, work closely with local traders and take proportionate action where issues are identified to help ensure Dinnington High Street remains a safe and welcoming place for everyone."

Back at the meeting, residents are desperately looking for a practical, realistic solution. Joanne Brookes Wright tells the crowd that tough policing will only do so much to stop the issues. She says: “This is a much deeper societal problem. These children have parents.” Ms Brookes Wright is involved with the local colliery band, who hosted a remembrance performance in the town on Sunday.

“So far we’d been alright but last night was horrendous,” she says. “We’ve got two older ladies in our band and last night they were scared to come out.” She describes having death threats made against her, and says that the children did so despite the presence of police at the event. Mr Roadhouse chimes in: “They’re not frightened of anything. They don’t understand that if they participated in the community it would be much better.”

The meeting ends with a vote, passed overwhelmingly, to continue having monthly summits to share information and to tackle the issues.

The general mood afterwards is positive, but few hard measures have been agreed. One local resident says: “We had these same meetings 20 years ago. We’re 20 years on and we’re back where we started, that’s what makes me sad. These children have been left like this for years - there’s no support, there’s no jobs.”

Only time will tell whether things change for the better in Dinnington.

As I walk away from the meeting, I see the kids running from Sgt Woolley’s car as he heads from the hall and I am struck by a realisation.

I, a fairly athletic man in my 20s, am scared.

If the large group of kids decided to turn on me as I walk alone down the partially-lit high street, me and the £1000 laptop in my backpack would be toast.

And more than anything else, if I feel like this, what must the 80-year-old pensioners who live in the nearby nursing home feel like? What must local business owners, who are forced to confront the kids or have their shops attacked, feel like? What more do they need to do to stop it?