Drug dealing, drinking, begging and shoplifting on the rise among Shrewsbury rough sleepers

A Team Shrewsbury Safer Streets report shows there were around 430 incidents in the last three months of 2022, compared to around 100 in the same period the year before.

Other anti-social incidents on the rise include alcohol-related bad behaviour, drug paraphernalia and needles being dumped, and fly-tipping.

Shrewsbury Town Council clerk Helen Ball said in the report: "Town Rangers are exceptionally busy primarily addressing issues associated with rough sleepers; this includes, drug taking and dealing, drinking alcohol on the streets, begging and shoplifting.

"They have started to instill a regime of better behaviour. Discussions are ongoing as to how the Town Rangers can be incorporated in the Rough Sleeper Drug & Alcohol Misuse Treatment Project the office manager spoke of in the Team Shrewsbury Report."

The report also says that following a successful funding bid of £1.4m from the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities, Shropshire Council recently started the Reset project in readiness for launching to the public in March. The project is to support individuals rough sleeping or those at risk of rough sleeping and will include engaging with former rough sleepers when they move into accommodation, in providing a wrap around support for meeting their needs, targeting individuals subjected to substance misuse, and linking with the Samaritans, suicide prevention and other mental health charities and services to support people.

The project will also aim to provide an outreach provision to work with those individuals who do not present themselves to traditional services.

The report comes after the town's Severe Emergency Weather Protocol was activated again this week, where rough sleepers can attend 70 Castle Foregate during the freezing temperatures. The action was also taken during the cold snap in December.