Trowbridge benches removed after 'fighting and drug use'

Since April, police say they have seen a significant uptick in anti-social behaviour incidents in the Wicker Hill area of Trowbridge.

The force has been called to 51 reports in the area during that time, compared to just six during the same period in 2023.

These incidents have involved alleged disorders, fighting, and drug and alcohol use, and many have taken place at the paved area that houses four benches.

After a request from police, Wiltshire Council removed the benches on Friday, July 12.

Inspector Andy Lemon believes this short term measure was necessary to curb criminal and anti-social behaviour in the area.

The benches being removed (Image: Wiltshire Police)

He said: “The benches were put there with best intentions for use by the public, but quite frankly they weren’t being used by the public.

“They were being used for the consumption of alcohol, anti-social behaviour, drug use, there was fighting going on down here, businesses being targeted for shoplifting.

“It was really, really important that these benches were taken away… we are all about creating safer public spaces.”

Mustafa Kamoon, known to many as Stav, has been running a kebab van in the area for 30 years and says he has recently been involved in a number of “upsetting” incidents.

He added: “In the past year people were hanging around these benches drinking alcohol, people started drug taking.

“At the end of the night when I finished work I came outside and found little sachets of drugs, and on two occasions I found needles.

“The problem got bigger and bigger, the groups were getting larger and larger, it became too much and I’ve had a few incidents where I’ve had them swear at me and it’s upsetting.”

Litter picking in the Wicker Hill area of Trowbridge (Image: Wiltshire Police)

Sergeant Charly Chilton says the rise in reported incidents was “astronomical”.

She said: “Over the last three months we’ve seen an astronomical increase in terms of demand on our front line officers, on our response officers, on our neighbourhood policing team.

“To put that into context, that’s an increase of 3,100 per cent in relation to the logs that we were getting for this specific area.

“Whilst we’re aware that the issue will likely be displaced in the short term, one of the longer term solutions that we’re looking at is what we call a Public Spaces Protection Order.”

This would give police additional powers to disperse people from the area.