IT’S A city steeped in rich British heritage; home to one of the UK’s most prestigious cathedrals and the setting of Chaucer’s infamous book The Canterbury Tales.
But scratch below the surface and the seedy underbelly of this once quaint Kent town begins to show – rife with shoplifting, drug use and vicious bust-ups.
AlamyCanterbury is home to one of the UK’s most prestigious cathedrals[/caption]
Stuart BrockLocals said kids were to blame for the town’s downfall[/caption]
Locals told The Sun how their city centre is plagued by antisocial behaviour as local louts shoplift, get into drunken fights, and even start fires.
The Sun is diving into the country’s ghost town high streets, benefit black spots and crime epidemic.
In Canterbury, beleaguered locals’ complaints are backed by the facts – with 215 crimes reported in the central Westgate area of the city alone in November 2024, according to Kent Police.
Of these, 66 were violent and sexual offences, 41 for shoplifting and 14 for criminal damage and arson.
Ryan Rowe, 29, who spent a year-and-a-half homeless in the city, pinned the bad behaviour on the local Wetherspoons.
The father-of-two said: “On a Friday and Saturday night it’s the place you want to avoid big time because it’s not the best place.
“But, you can’t paint everyone who goes out for a drink with the same brush.
“Some people only go out for a couple and then they’re fine – but with Wetherspoons it is different, people drink pint, after pint, after pint.”
Violence can also be an issue, particularly among people sleeping rough.
Ryan said: “When I was homeless I knew of a fella who got set alight by a group of young people.
“He’s still alive, but they set him alight while he was sleeping.”
Some 13 offences were pinned on the street outside JD Wetherspoon’s The West Gate Inn, in November 2024 – the latest available data.
Of those, nine were violent and sexual, while two were for criminal damage and arson.
Ethan Snoad, 19, revealed locals had certain streets they’d refuse to walk down.
He said: “The drinking here has always been like this, but the drugs have got a lot worse. Especially in the clubs where there are issues with spiking.
“If you’re here regularly – I’ve been here every day for the past four years – and you learn which streets to not go down and just stay with the crowds, you’re alright.”
Some of the highest offending rates in the Westgate area of the city were Butchery Lane, St George’s Street and Gravel Walk, according to Kent Police.
Other high crime areas include the St Andrews Close Aldi, where of 12 offences recorded in November last year, eight were for shoplifting, and the Watling Street Bus Station – which had 19 offences.
BOOZY BRUNCHES
Carly Saunders, 44, said she would never spend an evening in the “awful” town centre that had “got out of control”.
She said: “I’ve seen fights, big brawls, punch ups, there’s a lack of police – it looks disgusting, there’s always mess everywhere, there are children setting fire to things.
“I just think we’ve got two bulging Universities and loads of visitors. They do boozy brunches that start at 12 and I think it’s just the mentality of this town centre.”
The HR Manager added: “I don’t think it’s a very good place to live and I think it can be quite dangerous.
“I think the problem is drugs – there is a massive drug problem here.
“There are homeless people living in tents, there’s students and they’re selling drugs to them, and there’s clubs – so I think there’s an underlying drug problem.”
Locals have labelled Canterbury – which boasts a total of seven garish betting shops in close vicinity – a “second-class Las Vegas”.
Stuart BrockSusan Patton said ‘hoards’ of kids steal from the Boots store she manages[/caption]
Stuart BrockCarly Saunders said the centre of the city had ‘got out of control’ at nights[/caption]
Stuart BrockPatton said a Boots’ security member was threatened outside of work[/caption]
Susan Patton, 46, works as assistant manager at Boots and said their security guard had been threatened by kids.
She said: “There are hoards of kids who do come in a nick stuff, one group in particular cause our security guard issues – some even threatened him when he left work.
“But, we have a system here where all the shops have a direct line to each other, so if someone shoplifts in another shop, we can tell everyone to keep an eye out.
“That makes me feel much safer, because we all have each others’ backs.”
Tiger-Rose Matthews, 20, who busks regularly in the city centre, told how she’s constantly hit with abuse.
She said: “Busking used to be a lot more celebrated up here, and now I just get more abuse.
“People shout at me, I assume it will happen today, they’ll say ‘you’re rubbish’, ‘shut up’, that sort of thing.
“I use a bucket hat to collect money now because it’s the size of my foot and I can put my foot straight on it if someone tries to take it.
“It’s not specifically the homeless people, it’s the addicts who are trying to look for money for more drugs.”
Stuart BrockTiger-Rose Matthews said homeless drug addicts try and steal from her busking bucket[/caption]
Stuart BrockThe town has a problem with shoplifting, locals said[/caption]
Stuart BrockEthan Snoad pinned Canterbury’s antisocial issues on drug use[/caption]
Emma Hill, 50, who worked temporarily at the Christmas market in December, said: “I don’t always feel entirely safe here, which is a bit of a shame.
“I’ve lived on and off in Canterbury for 30 years and I just feel that in the last couple of years it has just got a bit worse.
“A stabbing happened recently on the high street, around the corner from where I work, that was just really awful.
“I don’t see that much bad behaviour or trouble in general, it’s just when things like that happen.
“Lots of high streets are suffering and when shops close and all these vape shops and other things pop up it really isn’t ideal because it lowers the tone in such a historic city, but it’s better than units being left empty.
“Canterbury does try to keep standards very high.”
There were a total of 14,387 crimes recorded in Canterbury between June 2023 and 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In Kent there were a total of 164,945 crimes recorded in the year ending June 2024 – the most recent set of ONS data.
This was down from 173,230 crimes the previous year.
A Wetherspoons spokesman told The Sun: “The West Gate Inn, like our other pub in Canterbury, The Thomas Ingoldsby, operates in a safe and responsible manner and is very popular with the local community.
“It is run by long-serving experienced managers, has a 5-star rating from the local council under the government’s “ Scores on the Doors” food hygiene scheme and a Google review rating of 4.29 out of a maximum of 5 for the last 12 months.
“CCTV is in place throughout the pub.
“The pub works closely with Kent Police and they have raised no issues or concerns with us.
“The pub is in the local Business Improvement District scheme and part of the town radio initiative which links licensed premises together to prevent entry to anyone likely to cause problems
“Canterbury does not have a ‘Pubwatch’, an organisation present in most towns, consisting of a committee of licensees supported by local authorities and the police, which meets regularly to implement improvements in behaviour in town and city centres.
“Wetherspoon has helped set up many Pubwatches throughout the country and would be happy to work with the police and council to help set one up in Canterbury.”
Meanwhile, Canterbury area commander Chief Inspector Paul Stoner added: “Overall recorded crime in the Canterbury district has fallen by more than five per cent in the last year, that’s 700 fewer offences.
“In Westgate, the ward which includes Canterbury city centre, reports of arson and criminal damage, shoplifting, violence against the person, theft and robbery all fell year on year from 2023 to 2024.
“The falls in crime we have seen are due to the hard work of my officers who have a sustained, regular presence in the city. But we are not complacent and are boosting our community policing team so we have more officers on the beat.
“We also run plain clothes operations which have seen many shoplifters arrested, charged and jailed, while similar work is being done to keep women safe in the night-time economy.
“Canterbury remains and a safe and happy place to live, study and work and my officers bring to justice those who threatens its peace and safety.
“I urge anyone with concerns about crime in their areas to report them through our website, to help us build up our intelligence picture and tailor our policing response accordingly.”
Stuart BrockEmma Hill said she doesn’t feel safe in the town centre[/caption]
UkNewsinPicturesIn 2022 a person was murdered in the town centre[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
