'We're not under siege any more' say shopkeepers

A shopkeeper who once dreaded coming to work says she is no longer "under siege" after a reduction in anti-social behaviour

Nnenna Okonkwo, who runs SunnyDay International Foods in Shirley, Southampton had her shop window smashed and was forced to close early during months of harassment by teenagers last summer.

"It was a scary situation, really horrific," she said when reflecting on the time, which saw a number of shopkeepers targeted in similar attacks.

A year on, she said she is "happy to be at work" and expressed her gratitude to the police, council and the community for their support.

"Normally I wouldn't be bold enough to put on bright colours," said a smiling Okonkwo, standing outside her Afro-Caribbean store in a multi-coloured top.

"It feels good to be saying something different this time around, we're not under siege any more," she said.

A year ago, Okonkwo spoke of feeling "anxious" every time she opened her shop.

Now she says the biggest difference is being able to focus on serving customers instead of worrying about who might walk through the door.

She credits an increased police presence, a better working relationship with the council and the help of the community for the "calm" that businesses are now experiencing on the high street.

Okonkwo said: "What worked for us was the fact that we all came together, formed a unified front and our message was clear - anti-social behaviour is not welcome here."

Just along the row of shops is Muhammad Usman, who runs the mobile phone store Phone Hub.

He described last year as a "nightmare", during which he had to lock the front door of the shop between customers just to avoid any confrontation from the youths.

He said at the worst point he was considering closing the business but now "would like to continue work".

Last summer businesses in Shirley told the BBC they had seen a spate of incidents involving groups of teenagers, including vandalism and intimidation.

PC Tom Byrne, the local officer for Shirley, admitted they always see a rise in anti-social behaviour over the summer months but not to the same extent as 12 months ago.

There was now a "much lower" amount of reported anti-social behaviour.

He said: "From speaking to businesses that is the general feeling that things are much better this year."

Byrne said the police have taken a more "robust" approach to anti-social behaviour in the area.

He said one of the main repeat offenders had since been dealt with by the courts, which he believed had acted as "a good deterrent" for other would-be offenders.

He added: "We are prepared to take action against offenders, no matter what their age is because we want to make sure everyone in our community feels safe to come and shop on the high street and go to the parks."

Cabinet member for communities on Southampton City Council, Toqeer Kataria, praised a 10-week programme introduced in September, which saw increased CCTV and security guards on the high street and the surrounding area.

He added that the local authority continued to work closely with the police, businesses and schools as part of a Safe City Partnership, to tackle anti-social behaviour and provide support for young people where necessary.

Not everyone in the area says things have improved.

At ParkLife community cafe in St James' Park, manager Paula Shapland said groups of young people continued to cause problems on a daily basis.

"They'll litter, they'll spit, they'll swear," she said.

She highlighted one incident when an elderly man was barricaded in a toilet and another when a toilet door was broken.

"Unfortunately with what's been happening it contradicts that and that's not what we're all about."

Shapland called it "an intimidating and unsafe environment" which has led some customers to avoid coming to the park.

Despite this she said she was reluctant to contact the police as she does not want to "demonise" the young people.

"What I want to try and do is sort it out at grassroots level first," she said.

"If we can do anything to prevent it or make it better, I would rather do that than go straight to the police."

She has plans in place to work with local schools from September, where she hopes she can encourage the children involved to come in and help around the cafe.

She said: "It's about education and I think it might turn into 'this is our thing, we want to be part of this' rather than 'we want to come along and make problems'."