Drive to make town centres safer places

HUBS to help street drinkers and drug users, and a possible expansion of orders to stop drinking and aggressive begging, could be on the cards for Stockton's town centres.

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT

The measures could be on the way as Stockton Council tries to make the borough's six town centres safer and more welcoming.

It says there are still poor perceptions of safety among visitors and investors, despite a "genuine drop" in crime and anti-social behaviour and a "substantial level of investment" in safety measures like CCTV and enforcement officers, with "promising" hot-spot patrols and a Norton shop theft project, and links to other departments like street cleaning and litter collection.

Stockton Council's community safety select committee has delivered a report on how to improve the borough's town centres.

It says services to support people affected by substance misuse are key to that goal, while welcoming a focus on shoplifting and measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls, and night-time economy challenges, particularly in Norton, Stockton and Yarm, and noting a theme of "insufficient police/enforcement visibility"

The report says there are "ongoing concerns about problem behaviour" in Stockton town centre, with businesses reporting 651 incidents in 2024.

It also says more varied and specialised markets should be explored, as did a link between business intelligence and police systems.