A CASE for civil injunctions to be dished out to yobs responsible for antisocial behaviour at Asda and McDonald’s near Barnsley town centre is being made by police.
Teenage ringleaders, who have been turfed out of the town centre, have turned their attentions to the retailer and fast food chain on Old Mill Lane in recent months, according to a crime meeting held at Asda on Monday.
Civil injunctions, which effectively ban a person from being in a particular place, have been brought in already in problematic venues such as Barnsley Interchange - but police are now seeking for orders to be extended so McDonald’s and Asda are covered.
“It’s been an area of concern for a long time,” Sgt David Baines said. “The people causing problems are the same ones who have been responsible for issues in the town centre.
“Civil injunctions have been handed to them by the town centre policing team, but that’s brought them down to Asda and McDonald’s so we’re looking into that and what we can do.
“Rest assured, the people causing problems are known to us and they will be dealt with. We want to put an exclusion zone all around the area and that’s in process.”
The youngsters, who are said to be aged between 13 and 16, were turfed out of McDonald’s by police earlier this year after ignoring requests from staff to leave.
It led the police and council to adopt the problem as their priority, something which came to an end this week, although continued patrols and more work with managers will take place in the coming weeks.
According to people living on nearby Canal Street, a gang of up to 40 teens have been causing chaos - with no let up - for months on end.
Resident Malcolm Wood, 75, said: “We’ve been dealing with this ever since Asda came and we’re fed up of it. We know the ringleaders - they’re regularly in the area - and we all want something to be done about it.
“The police haven’t stopped the ringleaders yet. Recently they’ve been hitting cars with sticks and throwing stones at each other. They just don’t care about the damage they’re causing.
“They’re coming from all over, including Kendray and Kexborough.”
Council-issued public space protection orders (PSPO), which are designed to deal with problem behaviour in a specific area, also stretch to Old Mill Lane and police warned those caught flouting that will be prosecuted.
Incidents including urinating and defecating in the street, intimidating and verbally abusing shop staff, open drug dealing and taking, and aggressive behaviour including shouting, swearing and fighting were reasons why PSPOs came into force in 2016.
On average, there are now 56 incidents a month in the town centre area - still more than two a day - but down from 122 incidents at its peak at the end of 2016.
Sgt Baines praised the figures but said more crime prevention stalls will be hosted in the area, while customers and nearby residents will also notice marked police cars in the car park.
“By doing things like that, we prevent future crime which is what we’re here to do,” he added.
