Mayhem caused by gangs of teenagers has blighted Ashton-in-Makerfield for months. Businesses have been forced to close early, with staff and members of the public verbally assaulted, intimidated and targeted. James Holt reports.Business owner films anti-social behaviour in Ashton-in-Makerfield
“This is what is happening in Ashton,” Helen says as she films on her phone. She is livestreaming online, documenting as she is harassed and followed by a huge mob of teens in Ashton-in-Makerfield.
The town in Greater Manchester has faced months of mayhem at the hands of youths ‘running the streets’. Items have been hurled at passing cars, food thrown at customers in a takeaway, bikes ridden in between traffic and a bus stop left smashed up.
Groups of as many as 50 young people have been congregating, typically on weekend evenings, with residents reporting being harassed and intimidated. Members of staff at local businesses have been verbally abused. Groups have been smoking inside premises and throwing rocks at innocent passers-by.
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This culminated in a night of chaos last Sunday (February 8) when a large group forced a nearby KFC to close early. Gerard Street became overrun with the army of teenagers, which was captured in an online video now viewed more than 200,000 times.
Police the night before had implemented a dispersal order in Wigan town centre due to a ‘surge in youth-related anti-social behaviour and unprovoked violent incidents’.
Chanting and clapping, the group could be seen harassing a local business owner. Congregating outside of her café, Helen Lawson said she went outside to move them along. What followed was 13 minutes of chaos.
Livestreaming to Facebook, Helen, who has run the Hel’s Kitchen café for seven years, is heard pleading with the group: “Will you leave me alone? Get out of my face,” as she was followed. Other members are seen mocking her and laughing as they also join in in recording her.
Recent chaos was filmed on a Facebook live(Image: Helen Lawson)
At one point, her mobile phone is snatched out of her hand and thrown to the floor as she is repeatedly followed and surrounded. She had ice thrown at her and then a drink, with a young boy seen also mimicking the actions of a dog towards her.
A nearby KFC, for the second night in a row, was forced to close early. Repeated incidents have reportedly left staff ‘frightened’ of going into work for their shifts. A day before, a glass bus stop was damaged and shattered to pieces. One mum commented that her daughter had stones thrown at her.
KFC is an area where youths are congregating, on Gerard Street(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Another video was also posted online showing a young girl being attacked by a group outside a nearby B&M store. She was dragged by her coat and hit repeatedly. Local councillor Danny Fletcher said the footage made him ‘feel physically sick’.
Girl attacked by group outside B&M
Local schools have now become involved, with a number of youths captured in online footage identified. Children are thought to be arranging the large-scale meet ups, with others travelling from Haydock in Merseyside and Golborne near Warrington.
Greater Manchester Police put a dispersal order in place following the incident. The force said it is continuing to increase patrols in the area and has since identified a number of people involved.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Helen said it was the first time she had directly encountered issues with the group, but that she knows other businesses have been suffering. She later faced furious backlash online for filming the incident.
Mayhem caused by gangs of teenagers has blighted Ashton-in-Makerfield for months(Image: Helen Lawson)
“I hadn’t had anything like that before,” she said. “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.”
Residents in Ashton have called for more police (Image: Manchester Evening News)
Helen echoed fears for lighter evenings and summer months, adding: “As soon as it’s lighter and in the school holidays, I am sure they’ll all be back out again. There’s elderly people around here and people with kids in prams. It’s intimidating.
“Other businesses are dealing with them and suffering. People need to know what’s going on. There are sometimes smaller groups but Sunday was unbelievable. We need more community police out on the streets and patrolling around, especially on a weekend.”
For locals, they say weekends are when the town becomes ‘overrun’ by youths riding bikes in between cars and causing havoc in the street. One woman, who has lived in the area all her life, works in a nearby shop and asked not to be named. She said she didn’t feel safe leaving the house on weekend evenings.
“They’re always coming in the shop, throwing things, shouting, on bikes,” she said. “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.
A bus stop was smashed up and vandalised over the weekend(Image: Cllr Danny Fletcher)
“They are in massive numbers, throwing rocks and mud at cars, doing wheelies in the road in front of traffic. We need real police on the streets as more of a deterrent, because they think they are untouchable.
“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.”
Another woman who runs a nearby café told the Manchester Evening News that other shops such as B&M, Lidl and Heron Foods have become meet-up hotspots, with youths riding bikes inside and stealing from the premises.
Shops on the Gerard Centre retail park are also being targeted(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Another Ashton resident, standing with her friend along Gerard Street added: “It’s absolutely terrible what’s going on. We would never have behaved like this. It’s constant. I’ve seen kids running around in the road and riding their bikes. It’s really intimidating. I’ve had things shouted at me going past and they antagonise people.”
Sian Jones, who runs Strawberry ARTS CIC, a dance school for children aged two up to adults in their 60s, said the issue has been ongoing for years. A group of teenagers once set fire to cardboard outside her venue, in the Greensway Centre, prompting an evacuation due to the smoke. Children then had glass bottles thrown at them.
“Unfortunately this isn’t a new issue,” she explained. “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.”
Police said they have used dispersal orders to tackle the issue and are now working with local schools and partners as well as enhancing patrols in the area.
Gerard Street has become a hotspot for anti-social behaviour (Image: Manchester Evening News)
One woman, a manager at a local fast food restaurant commented: “I can assure you these kids are feral. I have 16 year old staff that are frightened to come to work. Constantly having to remove up to 20 children at a time from smoking stealing and vandalising the restaurant.
“Customers who won’t come into the store because they don’t want to deal with being terrorised by children. We’ve had the restaurant closed tonight and lost business due to this.”
KFC has confirmed it is aware of incident ‘affecting colleagues’ and ‘does not tolerate’ anti-social behaviour in its restaurants. The chain is working with police and local authorities ‘to ensure the town centre feels safe and welcoming for everyone’.
Local councillor Danny Fletcher told the M.E.N that nearby schools had identified a number of children involved in the recent videos filmed in the town and was liaising with the police to increase visibility on weekends.
He said the KFC had become a problematic hotspot with youths smoking vapes and damaging the businesses. Staff are then verbally abused when instructed to leave.
Signs warn that CCTV is in place in the area(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“When they eventually leave they stand outside and reportedly intimidate customers. Throwing litter at people. Customers at KFC complain as they will follow them when they leave the store,” he said.
“However it’s not all of them, it’s a select few with a following. But 20 youths can be very intimidating to anyone. They have been throwing water over passers by and terrorising people who were simply just walking past, driving bikes in and out of the road and into store windows.
“This is not the first time we’ve seen this kind of anti-social behaviour in the town centre, and it will be stamped out. There will be consequences for those responsible. Everyone, residents, businesses and staff, deserves to feel safe in Ashton town centre. We’re taking this seriously and acting now.”
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “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.”