Revellers blamed for vandalism in town

8:40am Thursday 4th September 2008

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MINDLESS thugs are terrorising Chipping Sodbury High Street after drinking in the town’s late-night pubs.

Calls are being made for a crackdown on yobbish revellers who urinate in the street, smash shopfront windows and cause hundreds of pounds of damage to parked cars.

Some people who live in the medieval High Street say they have even found human excrement on the pavement.

Roy Vickers, a former town mayor and owner of Vickers Stationers, said: "Over the past weekend several missiles were launched into my property including two full cans of lager and one bottle of vodka.

"If these had hit someone we could have been having a murder inquiry. We have also had a brick through a car windscreen, a wiper pulled off a brand new vehicle, a number plate pulled from our car as well as a scratch along the side of the bonnet."

Another trader said: "Our shop window has been smashed in three times within a few months. The problems have always been there but they do seem to have become worse since the pubs started opening later."

Town councillor Paul Whittle is leading a campaign to stop Chipping Sodbury from becoming a weekend playground for the drunk and rowdy.

He told the Gazette: "Last weekend was positively disgusting with broken window glass, cars damaged, blood on the pavements, litter and human excrement between the various pub locations to the bottom of Bowling Hill.

"How much longer do the residents have to put up with this mindless vandalism between midnight and 2am?"

Cllr Whittle, who has lived in Chipping Sodbury for more than two decades with his wife Wendy, said problems were worse than ever.

He said: "I have heard from people too frightened to go outside their property at night or even approach their own windows from inside their properties."

He is spearheading calls for existing town council CCTV cameras to be monitored on Friday and Saturday nights by a private firm paid for by pub landlords.

Some traders have also called for a stronger police presence, a reversal of the 24-hour drinking law and an increase in the legal drinking age limit to 25.

A meeting with Chipping Sodbury beat manager PC Mike Hart is due to be held next week.

Acting Sergeant Neil Whyman said: "We have arranged for extra patrols and we are looking into additional CCTV cameras, which the police will run."

Sgt Whyman said there had been an increase in incidents of criminal damage in August and urged residents who witness trouble to call police immediately.

"The problem at the moment is people call us four or five hours after something has happened in the early hours which makes it very difficult for us," he said.

"If they phone us straightaway we will make every effort to attend and deal with the incident."