Conwy shop staff fear drug gang

Sep 25 2008 by Richard Evans, North Wales Weekly News

SHOPS in Conwy town centre have closed early because of the threat posed by a gang of drug users.

Staff say gang members are always loitering in and around St Mary’s churchyard and in an alley leading from the High Street.

They admit to feeling harassed and are worried about what the youths might do next.

Shopkeepers, who do not want to be named because they fear reprisals, say they have called the police several times but nothing has been done to disperse the gang and move them on.

When our reporters visited the churchyard they found drug paraphernalia in a quiet corner of the cemetery and saw suspicious activity by two men, which was reported to police.

One 31-year-old trader complained: “They are hanging around talking on their mobiles in the alley by Woolworths. We don’t want them in Conwy.

“We have never had drug abusers hanging around the streets like this. We’ve families coming here with their kids and they don’t want to see them.

“I’ve called the police several times but nothing has happened. A couple of my customers have phoned the police too.”

A worker in Woolworths revealed the store had closed early because staff had been unnerved by the presence of the gang.

“We closed early one night because the staff were frightened. We don’t like the look of them,” she said.

Another assistant in a High Street shop said she is afraid to walk to her car after dark. She said: “I don’t want to be named in case my windows are smashed.”

She told how the gang members hang around between 2pm and 4pm waiting for their drugs. “There are queues of people waiting for their drugs,” she claimed.

Insp Andrew Broadhead said police are aware of the complaints and are looking into them.