A beautiful town in Britain has turned into a magnet for crime and antisocial behaviour where girls brawl in the streets, some locals have suggested. The market town of Trowbridge boasts some idyllic parks and gardens, but visitors have claimed it has gone downhill.
Sue White, 48, said she used to live in Trowbridge but would never move back. The shop assistant asked what was right with the town, adding her place of work in the town saw at least one incident of shoplifting per week.
She told The Sun: “There’s abuse, violence, drug dealing, anti-social behaviour and other crime… I’ve got nothing nice to say about Trowbridge at all.”
Marianne Ewing, 59, from nearby Melksham, told the same publication girls were fighting outside a pub in Trowbridge just days ago and she believed a lot of the crime centred around drugs.
According to crimerate.co.uk, Trowbridge is the second most dangerous medium-sized town in the county.
The overall crime rate in 2023 was 80 crimes per 1,000 people, significantly higher than Wiltshire’s overall crime rate of 56 crimes per 1,000 that year.
In 2023, the most common crimes in the town were violence and sexual offences, with 1,189 offences, crimerate.co.uk reported.
Disorder in Trowbridge town centre earlier this month led to a man being charged with possession of an offensive weapon and amphetamine.
Another man was sentenced to 28 months on July 3 after a robbery at a Sports Direct in the town. He pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of drugs and going equipped as well as theft offences.
A man was arrested after reports a woman was the victim of racist abuse in the centre of Trowbridge in May.
In April, a serial shoplifter was given a criminal behaviour order after pleading guilty to theft. He was banned from six shops and The Shires Shopping Centre.
Wiltshire Police said it appreciated the ongoing concern about antisocial behaviour in the town centre, but crime levels remained “relatively stable”.
The force pointed to efforts aimed at cracking down on issues such as street-drinking and antisocial behaviour, including patrols with a CCTV van.
Neighbourhood inspector, Ho Tsang, said the force is looking to bring in a Public Safety Protection Order, which would allow greater powers to tackle antisocial behaviour.
Wiltshire Police vowed to carry on working with others to make Trowbridge as safe as possible for everyone.