Businesses call for anti-social behaviour action

Business owners in a West Sussex village are calling for more to be done to stop anti-social behaviour in the area, particularly from teenagers.

Muhammed Islam's restaurant in Barnham was hit by problems in May, which escalated to violence when he was attacked.

Mehdi Gholamzadeh, who runs a kebab shop in the village, said anti-social behaviour has become worse and his business had been impacted at least once a week, including cash being stolen and damage to the site.

Ch Insp Will Keating-Jones said Sussex Police had increased its patrols in Barnham and was working with British Transport Police to ensure there was a "continued and heightened police presence".

Following the incident at Mr Islam's restaurant, three teenagers were arrested and bailed and police put a 48-hour dispersal order in place.

The restaurateur said he needed surgery on his shoulder after the incident.

Mr Gholamzadeh said: "They know because they are underage they can get away with it."

Sgt Sam Fenner, from the neighbourhood policing team, said they had received reports of children running on roofs, carrying out vandalism, drinking and taking drugs in the area.

Mr Keating-Jones said public meetings had been held to reassure residents and discuss issues, while Operation Precinct aimed to target anti-social behaviour in the area.

He added that the force would continue to work to identify the root cause of the problem to ensure a long-term solution could be put in place.

Mr Keating-Jones said: "We have a range of powers at our disposal to deal with offenders, which we will absolutely use where relevant.

"However, it all starts with education, and our main aim is to prevent these incidents from happening in the first place."

The Home Office said the government was determined to tackle anti-social behaviour and would provide "thousands of extra neighbourhood police and community support officers".

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