Shopkeepers lead fight against yob culture (From Barry And District News)

Shopkeepers lead fight against yob culture

TWO Sully shopkeepers are leading the way for residents keen to make their voices heard on the escalating problem of youth annoyance.

Joint owners of Sully stores Jane Harris and Yvonne Addison have gathered a petition.

Jane said: "We often hear customers' stories about the problems they faced in the village with youth annoyance. Many of the stories were about youths making noise at ridiculous hours and causing a general nuisance.

"Some of the elderly people in Sully have been known to put their rubbish out at night and youths will tip the bins up. We want to help the residents of Sully who come into the shop."

She added: "We want preventative measures for the residents, such as CCTV in areas which are the worst affected.

"It is not a nightly problem because it seems to come in waves. Residents feel that there is not a strong enough police presence. I know the police are trying their best."

The petition was put on the counter of the shop and attracted more than 250 signatures. These were passed to John Smith, MP for the Vale of Glamorgan.

He said: "Residents came to me to highlight this problem so I have spoken specifically on this issue to Superintendent Josh Jones. Josh was concerned about the issue and he has undertaken to look closely at what can be done. I will be speaking with him again on the matter.

"I hope that everybody involved can work together to sort this out as the community spirit in Sully is very strong."

Penarth police inspector Huw Smart said: "We want to deal with the youth annoyance problem in the long term.

"We will be talking to the youths of the village and the residents to resolve the issues.

"We want to help the youths find activities to occupy their time. We are also training staff to deal with youth annoyance."

l Barry shopkeepers' first step in combating retail crime - see page 9