Hot-spots for town centre anti-social behaviour revealed in new report

Levels of anti-social behaviour have dropped across Blackpool as a whole although the town centre continues to be a magnet for rowdiness, according to the latest police figures.

A report by the Blackpool Community Safety Partnership shows overall levels of anti-social behaviour have fallen by nine per cent for the period between April 2023 and January 2024 compared to the same time in the  previous year. There were 7,249 reports of anti-social behaviour in 2023/24 compared to 7,982 in 2022/23.

However 3,076 of those incidents were recorded in the inner wards of Talbot, Bloomfield and Clarement which combined to account for 42 per cent of all anti-social behaviour in the town.

Members of the council’s Climate Change and Environment Scrutiny Committee, who were presented with the annual report, said they feared the numbers suggested crime was still a big problem in the town. Coun Kim Critchley said “it’s like every other person is a criminal, but they’re not”, while Coun Adrian Hoyle asked if some of the behaviour was from “people who come here and don’t necessarily live here.”

Superintendent James Black, of Lancashire Constabulary said the figures for anti-social behaviour could include multiple reporting of the same incident, and Blackpool’s transitory population meant some perpetrators would have left the area.

He said the police were concentrating on crime prevention by looking at repeat locations and repeat offenders, including those people “having to steal to survive.” He added: “There is a vulnerability around that so it is about working with our partners.”

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Figures show Church Street in the town centre is among the hot spots, with Costa Coffee and Marks and Spencer among the businesses reporting incidents, while the stand-out location for issues reported on Bank Hey Street is McDonald’s.

Figures for the town centre wards show: –

Talbot Ward (1,121 incidents) Church Street experienced 95 incidents, which equates to 8.5 per cent of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Talbot ward. Of those, Costa Coffee experienced 10 incidents and Marks and Spencer nine incidents. Bank Hey Street has experienced 84 incidents, which equates to 7.5 per cent of ASB in Talbot Ward. The stand-out repeat location on Bank Hey Street is McDonald’s (51 incidents).

Bloomfield ward (987 incidents) Lytham Road has experienced 93 incidents, which equates to 18.2 per cent of ASB in Bloomfield. Repeat locations include Tesco Express with 14 per cent of ASB on Lytham Road (13 incidents), and Ma Kelly’s Lytham Road (nine incidents). The remaining incidents are spread between various hotels, bars, stores and food outlets on the street.

Claremont ward (968 incidents) Repeat Locations are Ma Kelly’s Town Centre (36 incidents, Blackpool North Station (33 incidents),Trilogy Nightclub (21 incidents), and Garlands (14 incidents). Dickson Road has experienced 93 incidents, which equates to 9.6 per cent of ASB in Claremont, divided between the various businesses many of which are licensed premises but the largest number of reports for a specific location was the Duke of York Hotel which experienced 10 incidents.