Anger and sadness over ‘doom’ town ‘blighted by drunks fighting and shouting’

“Everything is looking sad. It’s so drab,” says Stephen Firth, during a wander around Dewsbury town centre on a wet and windy Tuesday morning.

He lives in Batley but likes to visit Dewsbury town centre once a week to visit the bank. “It’s the only reason I come down.”

Stephen believes the town centre is ‘slowly dying’ and he cannot see any reason to be optimistic. As he spoke to YorkshireLive, a whiff of cannabis drifted by. Weed smokers are “not in their right mind”, he says.

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Stephen, who is in his 70s, said the town centre used to be ‘bouncing’ and ‘full of shoppers’ when he was younger. One of the main problems facing the town centre is drunkenness, he claims. He says that drunks tend to gather at the bottom of Daisy Hill where they can be seen ‘drinking all day’. Today there were just a handful street drinkers, but during better weather there might be dozens, it is claimed.

“It’s a no-go areal my wife won’t come into town now. After teatime, no-one does,” says Stephen. He says his wife has lost faith in the town centre as she doesn’t think it’s possible to purchase a birthday or Christmas gift for someone due to a lack of good shops.

And he says the town could do with an increased police presence to deal with anti-social behaviour. On occasions, he says he has seen “30 or 40” street drinkers supping from cans. “They go to the bottom of Daisy Hill. There’s nothing else for them to do.”

Edward Jennings described himself as “the most positive man you will ever meet” but he’s not got a lot good to say about Dewsbury. “It’s sad and depressing,” he says.

“This town was thriving and was a fantastic town,” he added. “I am just disappointed. There’s nothing to come for. I have just visited the bank.”

Abdul, 68, who was walking through the centre of town, said he enjoyed going for walks and shopping in the town centre. He had just bought some clothes for family members. He said: “I walk every day. I have just bought some clothes.”

John and Elsie Greenlees, of Thornhill Lees, said there were still good places to go for something to eat or a coffee, including Cloggs Coffee Shop in Tithe Barn Street. They visit the town centre once a week, mostly to shop at the big Asda superstore.

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John said the ‘ambience has gone’ in the town centre. And he claimed Kirklees Council had devoted more energy to Huddersfield than Dewsbury.

Ridvan Turhan, who runs a ‘Turkish Bistro’ called Town Cafe in Market Street, said ‘drunk people’ were scaring away customers. Sometimes, drunks sit outside his cafe and shout abuse at passers-by, he says. Last year he was injured in a confrontation outside his cafe after someone passing by placed an empty beer bottle on one of his tables.

“We always have problems with drunk people. It is a very big problem with fighting and shouting. Customers won’t come in. Too many people drink in the town centre. Today it is raining – if you come back tomorrow you will see everything.”

He added: “There are too many problems. The first problem is alcohol, the second problem is teenagers. I have told Kirklees, the Mayor and the police.”

Ridvan, whose fresh coffee is renowned among his regulars, opened his cafe nine years ago but says times have been tough these last two years. He says the ‘Daisy Hill drinkers’ are one of the main problems. “After 5pm, Daisy Hill is a massive problem. In summer, there will be 50 or 60 drinking.”

He said the town was ‘cursed’.

One of his customers, Jasmine, said the town centre had a litter problem and more needed to be done to tidy up the streets and the buildings. She said there was too much chewing gum on pavements and fly-posters on windows.

Another customer said he had heard people call the town ‘Doomsbury’ because of the problems it faced. “There are a lot of nice buildings,” he said. “But there’s nothing to do for the kids.”

“If you want food, go to Batley. Batley is mint for food.”

He said the street drinking problem was not surprising to him. “They all drink on the markets. We are in Britain, mate. That’s what it is. There’s no police presence and there’s no consequences. I could smash a window and walk home and nothing would happen.”

West Yorkshire Police has been approached for comment.

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