'They fill their bags and threaten us with knives, we’re scared to challenge them': Traders say crime is blighting Dudley town centre

Traders and shop owners have been describing some of the crimes they cope with which are costing them thousands of pounds in lost business and repair bills.

They say gangs of youths and drug users are blighting the once thriving town centre while shoplifting and antisocial behaviour is part of their daily routine.

Paula Goodyear, who owns a café in Fountain Arcade, said: “We were broken into last year, he hid in the arcade then he got in.

“It was £7,500 in damage he had done for a few quid in petty cash – and he messed in the place.

“I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown, all those things were personal to us, the things he had thrown on the floor, everything had to go in the bin.”

In another incident two people went into the café toilets with bags of suspected stolen goods.

The pair changed clothes in the toilets, Mrs Goodyear believes to alter their appearance.

Mrs Goodyear said: “They were obviously hiding upstairs, they changed clothes but then they didn’t put the clothes in their bags, they put them down the toilet and caused us a massive blockage.”

Unblocking her toilet cost Mrs Goodyear £290, now she keeps the facilities locked and only gives the code to customers she trusts.

Charity shops are not immune either. Emily Shaw in the Acorns Children’s Hospice shop said: “Shoplifting is rife, I’ve said to people ‘could you put that back’ and they’ll say ‘you get it for free so we’ll just take it’.

“We had a guy on a Saturday morning, he’d got no trousers or shoes on and he tried to pay for some clothes with a fake £20 note.

“We refused and he was quite abusive, we saw the police outside with him but then he came back in again so the police must have let him go.”

Staff in Poundland face shoplifting daily and risk injury if they challenge offenders.

Poundland assistant manager Ava Webb said: “They will come in and just fill their bags, if you ask for the stock back they get aggressive, there is verbal abuse and threats of knives.

“I try not to get involved because I don’t feel safe but the men will get involved and get spat on in the face, they get hit sometimes.”

Street crime is also a concern for traders who hear tales of brazen thieves making life a misery for their customers.

Paula Goodyear said: “A young gentleman who comes in to me every day, he went to the bank and took out £500 to pay his rent and they robbed him.

“Three days after a couple, someone offered to help with their bags and took a bracelet worth £1,500. They have not been back to Dudley since.

“I never carry a large amount of money, I bring what I need.

“Before I used to come to the café on my own, we now come in with three of us and I never leave on my own.”