Shop quits Bury St Edmunds town centre after seeing increase in street drinking, begging and anti-social behaviour

As the street drinking and begging which has blighted Bury St Edmunds this summer shows no sign of abating, one business has decided to call it quits as a result.

Furniture Market, in Brentgovel Street, will close next month after its owner saw behaviour in the surrounding area deteriorate.

Last week, a tent was put up in Short Brackland, next to the vacant Cornhill Walk Shopping Centre, with 15-20 people regularly gathering to drink and behave in an anti-social manner.

Furniture Market suffered a break-in last week and while police were taking a statement from staff on Monday, people drinking at the tent were seen causing a disturbance.

Officers who attended arrested a 43-year old man on suspicion of failing to comply with a criminal behaviour order. He was taken to Bury Police Investigation Centre for questioning, where he remained on Tuesday. A second man, aged 48, was arrested in relation to a separate matter.

During the incident a police patrol car was damaged, with two wing mirrors removed from the vehicle.

Lindsay Foreman, of Furniture Market, said similar anti-social behaviour was a daily event and that Bury was seen as an easy target for begging.

“You can hear them talking about the fact that they are not homeless. They are coming here to beg. They are getting drunk and being abusive to each other and passers-by. We have another group – who we believe are involved in county lines – drug dealing outside. They all come around here because there’s no CCTV,” said Lindsay.

“We are closing next month because there’s been a huge drop in profits for us this year and people avoid this area because of the anti-social behaviour.”

In the past year three of the shop’s windows have been broken, there was a break-in and Lindsay was physically assaulted in July following a theft.

Lindsay said: “Just now they’ve been fighting outside. We see them urinating. There’s a lot of frustration among the businesses. It is a major factor in us closing. We are leaving the premises each night and wondering when we will get another call to come in because of some issue.”

Furniture Market, which opened in October 2016, will close on October 18.

“We took out a 10-year lease, but we can’t afford to sustain the cost of being here.

“I didn’t expect Bury town centre to decline so quickly. By 3-4pm daily they are drunk and breaking into fights. It is totally off-putting for the people in town. I am really worried that if something is not done soon Bury will find itself empty in the next two or three years. It’s almost as though I might as well be in inner city London, the amount of rubbish we have had to deal with here.”

Mark Cordell, of business improvement district Our Bury St Edmunds, said the problems were having an impact on businesses and visitors.

“Since about June I have become more and more concerned. This is impacting on businesses and visitors and it is getting worse.

“The authorities are taking action and steps to deal with it, with the council offering support and housing for those where it is appropriate, but I am seeing an increase in the numbers of people behaving inappropriately and I believe they are coming to Bury from further afield,” he said.

“The police are arresting people, but they are not always supported by the courts, where offenders are released after one night in custody.

“We are very, very concerned about the amount of anti-social behaviour, assertive and aggressive begging taking place, with women being targeted. On behalf of our businesses, I am asking for further action to be taken by the authorities.

“It is having a very detrimental effect. People are saying they don’t feel safe. This is a big, big issue and the situation is deteriorating day on day.”

A resident of nearby Well Street said the situation was getting worse and she knew of an elderly woman who found the drunk individuals very intimidating.

She added: “Why is this the first time I have witnessed this in 36 years of living in Bury? Could it be the cutbacks of essential services? Austerity? Or the increase of drugs and cheap alcohol?”

A Suffolk Police spokeswoman said officers were continuing to work with various partners to tackle the issues with drinking and anti-social behaviour in the town centre.

A spokesman for West Suffolk Council said: “We are aware of a tent used by two rough sleepers and pitched in Short Brackland – this is a couple we are continuing to try to support. We are also aware a number of people who are not rough sleepers have been joining with the couple street drinking and causing anti-social behaviour.

“Our police partners are continuing to use a variety of powers available to them, including under the Public Space Protection Order which is in place in Bury town centre. They have increased their patrols, will confiscate alcohol from street drinkers where appropriate and take positive action in respect of anti-social behaviour.

“The BID, council, police and other local partners continue to work together to try to reduce rough sleeping and address the separate issues of anti-social behaviour/street drinking.”