Southend businesses' fears over crime spate in seaside town

Business owners have spoken of fears that a spate of crime and anti-social behaviour could deter visitors to a popular seaside town.

In the past month in Southend-on-Sea, a large fight has broken out on a beach and roads closed to stop car cruising.

Dispersal orders have been put in place and in Leigh-on-Sea, about three miles (5km) away, teenager Luke Bellfield died from a stab wound in February.

Ch Supt Simon Anslow said Essex Police was "increasing patrols".

He said officers would "provide a really visible and reassuring presence to everyone that comes here, whether it's residents or visitors from out of town".

Ch Supt Anslow added: "Southend is open for business for people who want to come here and enjoy themselves with families and friends.

"But we absolutely cannot tolerate people coming here, behaving anti-socially, taking drugs, threatening each other, throwing deckchairs around, the kind of activity we've unfortunately seen a small minority taking part in.

"We'll take strong action against those people."

Sara Welton, owner of Sara's Tea Garden, in Leigh-on-Sea, said the last few months have "not been easy at all".

"We've had a lot of anti-social behaviour, broken bottles, stabbing, fights. It's just become somewhere where people fear to come down," she said.

The cafe owner warned there needed to be a "constant police presence, especially at the weekends".

She said police "can't think they'll just do it for a couple of weeks and then 'it's OK, it's all all right now' because as soon as you drop your guard it'll happen again and it'll come back".

Phillip Miller, who owns Adventure Island on Southend seafront, said: "If the police don't get a handle on [anti-social behaviour] for the summer that would be a big worry."

But he added: "Generally speaking, people come to Southend in their millions, and most people just enjoy themselves and get on with their lives."

Councillor Martin Terry, from Southend Borough Council, said: "We want people to come and visit Southend-on-Sea, but we need to work together to address the issues caused by the small number of people who want behave inappropriately and spoil it for everyone else."

He said business, organisations and the police in Southend "recognise the importance of providing that reassurance, raising that visibility and doing everything we can to make our town feel safe".

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]