3:24pm Thursday 9th July 2009
By Jon Livesey
FEARS have been raised over town centre policing in Nelson just before the re-launch of a cafe once described as a magnet for troublemakers.
The Arcade Cafe, in Leeds Road, Nelson, closed last month, following numerous reports of anti-social behaviour at the eaterie over the last year.
New owners have taken over the cafe and it is set to re-open in the next month but traders are worried about the lack of police presence.
One trader vowed to support the new owners but is calling for extra patrols in the town centre to ensure historic problems with the cafe do no resurface.
Coun Eileen Ansar, who runs Slick clothing store, in Manchester Road, said there had been “a lot of issues” surrounding the cafe.
Speaking at the Nelson Committee meeting, on the eve of the cafe re-opening she urged Inspector Paul Leigh to deploy extra patrols.
After the meeting she said: “I am concerned about crime in Nelson town centre. We used to see officers on a regular basis but now it is very badly under-managed.
Coun Ansar praised PC Mark Dibb and PCSO Mark Harrison, who patrol the town centre, but criticised the decision to deploy them elsewhere.
She said they did an “excellent” job, which was made difficult because they were often moved to other areas of the town.
Inspector Leigh, of Nelson Police, confirmed there had been numerous reports of anti-social behaviour inside and outside the cafe.
He said: “We have worked with the council to tackle people that were complained about at the cafe, but the owner was not always responsive.
“We do have officers in the town centre, but they sometimes get moved to other areas to cover things such as football matches.
“I fully accept you want to see police on foot in the town centre. We will have to see where extra foot patrols can go.”
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