INTIMIDATING and threatening street drinkers and drug addicts in Wellington town centre are making lives a misery for business owners and their staff.

Business owners are urging police and local councillors to take action against what they say is an escalating problem.

A number of people spoke at a Wellington Town Council meeting this week . They said issues were being caused by a group of mainly unemployed males congregating on benches and drinking and taking drugs.

“It’s not a very good look for people coming into town, and it’s having a detrimental impact on local businesses,” said one shop owner.

“I’ve come into work in the morning and found drunk people slumped in my shop doorway. We feel very vulnerable and if we say anything to them we’re worried they might damage our shops.”

Another business owner said she did not want to “put her staff at risk” and that it was “really intimidating” for them to leave the shop on their own when people outside were making rude comments at them.

Councillors heard from another businessman who said: “There are people sitting outside taking drugs – we don’t want the smell of cannabis coming into our shop.”

Cllr Keith Wheatley said he had been asked to speak on behalf of another Wellington business owner who had become increasingly concerned about anti-social issues.

“Their staff are being terrorised – they’re almost frightened of coming into work each day,” he said.

Cllr Wheatley said the company in question was highly successful and involved in high-money deals, but clients were refusing to come to Wellington for meetings because they were having to “run the gauntlet of a bunch of drunken blokes.”

“This behaviour is shaming our town,” said Cllr Wheatley. “People are appalled by what they see.”

Sgt Jon O’Connor, of Wellington Police, who was at the meeting, said: “We’re aware of what’s going on and trying to do what we can, but we have to prioritise and we can’t be everywhere all of the time.”

It was suggested during the meeting that Wellington needed a PSPO – a Public Spaces Protection Order – which helps to tackle anti-social behaviour in public areas and could be used to ban street drinking.

But Sgt O’Connor said that that could lead to further problems. “Are we going to have to go round on Carnival night and go up to every dad who has got a can of Thatchers or stop people drinking drinking Prosecco or Pimm’s on a music afternoon in Wellington Park?” he asked.

Sgt O’Connor said that it felt as if Wellington had become a place where certain people were being moved to for “a fresh start.”

“But the only thing that has changed for them is their postcode,” he said.

Cllr Andy Govier said: “The situation has deteriorated quite dramatically over the last couple of years.

“We need to come up with a solution. We have a lovely town centre, but it’s being marred by the actions of a few people.”