Rough sleeper anti-social behaviour in Shrewsbury town centre 'has almost halved'

A Team Shrewsbury update says that there were 300 incidents in the town centre during October, November and December last year. That number is down from 580 over the previous three months.

The town centre has faced significant problems with shoplifting, drug taking and fighting.

The downturn in incidents coincides with the temporary closure of the Shrewsbury Ark homeless charity's day centre on October 2. The Castle Foregate-based charity accepted there were a "minority of intimidating people behaving unacceptably".

The charity reopened on November 20, but got rid of its drop-in service and increased security. A new "referral-only" system was brought in to try to combat the problem of people hanging around and causing a nuisance, while the car park was fenced off and security guards were brought in to move people on.

The Team Shrewsbury report was prepared by Shrewsbury Town Council's office manager, Ruth Jones, to go before the authority's recreation and leisure committee this week.

It said: "Since the re-opening of the Ark, verified rough sleepers only will continue to receive access to the Ark, with a view to extending this to those in temporary accommodation/sofa surfing early 2024.

"The new service with the improved structure is providing valuable assistance for the rough sleepers."

The report also said that £2,000 of stolen goods were recovered and returned to shops from the start of October to the end of December.

To read the report in full, visit shrewsburytowncouncil.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/12.-Agenda-8-i-Team-Shrewsbury.pdf