ANTI-SOCIAL HOTSPOTS

Neighbourhoods across the nation are suffering from intimidation, abuse, noise nuisance, or vandalism

- By RICHARD AULT

POLICE received around a million complaints about anti-social behaviour last year, with thousands of neighbourhoods across the nation blighted by graffiti, noise nuisance, and intimidating gangs.

Hyper-local police figures show that busy town and city centres suffer by far the highest levels of anti-social behaviour (ASB) which can include vandalism, verbal abuse, shouting, swearing, fighting, intimidation and harassment.

Last year police received 2,517 reports of ASB in Newcastle City Centre, more than anywhere else in the country.

That was followed by Strand, St James & Mayfair in Westminster - which includes Buckingham Palace, home to King Charles III - with 2,300 reports of ASB, and then Central Blackpool (1,767).

A comparison of ASB rates using population sizes confirms that people living in city and town centres are most likely to encounter anti-social behaviour.

While the royal family are likely shielded from ASB, their neighbours living in Strand, St James & Mayfair suffer most. For every 1,000 people living near Buckingham Palace, there were 332 reports of ASB. That's the equivalent of one in every three people suffering from some form of anti-social behaviour.