Croydon town centre has been thrown into turmoil after a group of school-aged teenagers engaged in shoplifting, vandalism, and anti-social behavior, prompting police to enforce special dispersal powers.
Local businesses and residents have been left distressed, with reports of a lit firework being thrown into a store, MyLondon reports.
Section 35 Dispersal Zone has been put in place across Broad Green and Fairfield Wards, allowing officers to exclude individuals from the area for up to 48 hours, while those under 16 can be taken home or to a place of safety.
In one instance, a lit firework was thrown into a store. The residents told the publication that there had also been instances of teenagers waving lit fireworks around market sellers in the area.
They said that things have improved recently due to a larger police presence, but they still have to remain vigilant.
South Area Croydon police stated, "The order is being used because a group of school-aged teenagers has been repeatedly engaging in shoplifting, anti-social behavior, criminal damage, and general nuisance in Croydon Town Centre.
"Their actions are disrupting businesses and causing distress to the public," states the police.
Business owners from this area have been reporting antisocial behaviour in their area with teens coming in groups and picking things and running away.
Mark Oram, who works at Dabners Pet Store, told MyLondon that while he hadn’t experienced issues with school-age children, antisocial behaviour in the area was still a huge problem.
“We’ve got a lot of drunks and drug addicts,” he said. “It's lawless, absolutely lawless. There’s so much crime which you don’t even hear about. Stabbings are by the hour.”
In the South East, shoplifting figures rose by 42.6 per cent in Surrey, 8.5 per cent in Kent and 13.5 per cent% in Sussex, according to ONS figures.
This comes a couple of weeks after businesses across the South East reported similar incidents, saying shoplifting has become "much more brazen" with staff being shouted at and abused.
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said she welcomed the shoplifting figures as she said it showed businesses were reporting more retail crime.
She added, "I feel quite aggrieved for local business people – shop theft should never have got this bad and it should have been tackled a long time ago.
"The abuse shopworkers are getting is horrible.
"People take their chance because they think police forces are turning a blind eye. It's very important that police forces like Sussex continue a real focus on this."
