Terror teens banned from shops after throwing sausage rolls and causing carnage

16 January 2023 , 03:48

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A dispersal order has been applied after gangs of youths targeted shoppers and staff (Image: Teessidelive)

Minors have been banned from entering a row of shops on a troubled estate after they began throwing sausage rolls at staff and urinating on people.

Police handed down a dispersal order in the Norfolk Place shopping parade in Middlesbrough last week, in response to large gangs of youths causing trouble in the area, reports Teesside Live.

Workers have described being left exhausted by the teenagers throwing objects, with one witnessing them standing on a staircase above the row of shops and "urinating on people below".

Signs have recently been displayed on shop windows across the precinct stating that they will close early, while others now refuse to admit under-18s without an accompanying adult.

Teenagers have been banned from shops on an estate in Middlesbrough after a spate of antisocial incidents (Teessidelive)

Fast food businesses have been some of the worst hit by the antisocial behaviour, with one reporter from the local newspaper witnessing a sausage roll being launched at a Domino's Pizza store as he spoke to an employee about the abuse they received.

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A 25-year-old fast food worker who has worked at a nearby store for two years, meanwhile, said the teens were "coming in and messing the shop up" almost daily, with one incident resulting in wallpaper coming off the walls after they threw a chair across the counter.

Another 27-year-old shopkeeper described a hostile encounter with groups of youths, saying: "We get a lot of kids loitering. They threw a glass bottle in and one time tried to fight me and squared up at me, it was very, very aggressive."

One shop worker described seeing youths urinate on people walking on the pathway below them (Teessidelive)

She added that she now locks the shop when the groups appear, as the disruption has been getting "worse and worse".

A disperse order applied for the area allows police to remove groups of youths from the shops immediately for a period of 48 hours, with them risking arrest if they breach the order.

Two youths have been arrested on suspicion of breaching one of a 48-hour dispersal order, while five youths have been directed to leave the area under the order.

A disperse order applied for the area allows police to remove groups of youths from the shops immediately for 48 hours (Teessidelive)

The two youths who allegedly returned to the area were arrested and later bailed pending further inquiries.

Discussing the reasoning behind issuing the order, Inspector Steve Pattison said: “We won’t tolerate the behaviour of anyone who makes the lives of those living and working in the area a misery. The dispersal order used this week has given us the power to remove youths from the area with immediate effect and two youths believed to be breaching the order have been arrested.

“Partnership working is continuing with local authority colleagues from the Antisocial Behaviour Team and there will be a continued high-visibility policing presence in the Berwick Hills area.”

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas