A quiet town is being terrorised by ‘feral’ yobs night after night, leaving the local community to scared to leave their homes at night.
Vast mobs of teenagers have been plaguing the once-peaceful streets of Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester, for months.
They have been throwing rocks at passers-by, harassing local shopkeepers and smashing up bus stops.
As many as 50 young people have been massing on the town’s high street, abusing and intimidating locals.
The chaos seen over the past few months culminated in a night of pandemonium last Sunday, the Manchester Evening News reported, when a horde of anti-social thugs overran Gerard Street and forced businesses to close early.
13 minutes of footage captured by café owner Helen Lawson was shared to social media that night and paints a bleak picture of the state of the town’s young people.
Helen, who has run the Hel’s Kitchen café for seven years, was heard pleading to the group: ‘Will you leave me alone? Get out of my face!’
As the gaggle of hoodlums followed her around, others were seen mocking her. She recorded the moment her phone was snatched out of her hand and thrown to the floor, before they threw ice and a drink at her.
At one point, a young boy was seen barking at her like a dog.
Helen told the local outlet that while this was the first time she had personally faced issues with the group, she knew that other businesses in the area were suffering as a result of the shocking behaviour.
She said: ‘I hadn’t had anything like that before. But I know there’s been kids climbing on buildings, meeting up, throwing things at cars, harassing people.
‘They were all gathering in front of my business and I had concerns because I’ve had kids throwing each other into my window before. All I wanted to do was to ask for them to move, but I was backed up into the middle of the road and followed.
‘Lads on bikes came to the front and snatched my phone out of my hand. Outside KFC another lad threw ice cubes at me and I had a drink thrown over me. They were so resilient and just wouldn’t move.
‘Nothing excuses this behaviour. What are the parents doing? These kids think they are untouchable and have no respect. The way they spoke to me and treated me was disgusting. I don’t know what the answer is, they clearly think they can get away with it.’
The night prior to that video being taken, a glass bus stop was shattered to pieces, while one mother told the paper that her daughter had stones thrown at her.
In another harrowing video, a group was seen attacking a young girl outside a nearby B&M store.
The groups appear to be organised by the yobs themselves, with many believed to be travelling from Haydock in Merseyside and Golborne near Warrington.
One local woman, who has lived in the area all her life, told the newspaper: ‘They’re always coming in the shop, throwing things, shouting, on bikes. It’s treated like a youth hostel. It’s been going on for a good few months now, especially in the evenings when they are out of school.
‘Weekend evenings are the worst. I won’t come out of my house on a weekend night now because they are everywhere. We are overrun. FarmFoods is like a nightclub, they are causing chaos in KFC. There’s just no respect at all, they think they run the town. They are feral.
‘Parents are terrified of letting their kids out, I have two nieces and I know their parents are worried about growing up around all this. Something needs to be done. People are saying it’s because there’s nothing for kids to do, but it was the same when I was younger and we didn’t behave like this. Nothing excuses it. It’s disgusting.’
Sian Jones, who runs a dance school in the area, said the issue of teen violence has been going on for years.
She told the Manchester Evening News that a group of teenagers once set for to cardboard outside her venue, before chucking glass bottles at children who evacuated.
She said: ‘The worst incident was last year when some kids set fire to cardboard up against the roller shutter of storage unit just outside the entrance. The smoke was coming under the internal door to that unit and filled the corridor outside my internal entrance door.
‘Obviously, I evacuated the children and rang 999. Whilst outside the kids were then throwing glass bottles from the car park at our children outside.’
Sian continued: ‘Me and a few other people have had car windows smashed. Eggs thrown at cars. The bins have been set on fire a few times. There’s loads of graffiti on all the surrounding walls of businesses. Bricks have been ripped out of walls, gutters and wires ripped off the walls.
‘Bikes are ridden through the Greensway shopping arcade, and a fire extinguisher was swung at an elderly member of staff as a weapon. I’ve given up making reports to the police and local councillors because no action is taken and it just feels like a waste of time.’
Local councillor Danny Fletcher told the MEN that nearby schools had identified some of the children involved in the recent videos, and that they were coordinating with police to increase visibility on weekends.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police told the newspaper: ‘We have been utilising multiple resources within the Ashton-in-Makerfield area to reduce anti-social behaviour and have been tackling reports of issues with groups of young people head-on.
‘This has included the implementation of dispersal orders, which grants local officers the authority to remove people from areas and prevent issues before they can have a chance to begin.
‘Since reports of issues with a large group of young people on Sunday, we have identified several people in connection with the investigation and work is ongoing to assess any and all crimes – ensuring that those responsible are dealt with appropriately.
‘We have additionally been working closely with local schools, partners, and council youth teams to enhance patrolling in the area, engage with businesses, and look at ways to prevent further issues from affecting the community.’
