RESIDENTS living in the UK’s so-called best place to visit have revealed they’re fed of boozy tourists on hen dos fighting in the streets.
With its impressive abbey, Roman Baths and stunning architecture, the city of Bath Spa is steeped in history and a mecca for tourists.
GettyBath was named by The New York Times as the best place in the world to visit this year[/caption]
Marc GiddingsLynn McCradie, 68, said she was saddened by the homelessness rates in Bath[/caption]
Marc GiddingsBig Issue seller Holly Fraser complained of rowdy hen and stag dos in the city centre[/caption]
Six million tourists from around the globe flock to the UNESCO World Heritage Site every year, and The New York Times has voted it the best place in the world to visit in 2025.
Literary legend Jane Austen penned some of her classic period dramas in Bath, and this year the city will host its 25th Jane Austen Festival in September.
But the writer herself might turn in her grave if she could see the dark underbelly of escalating criminal activity which has grown in her wake.
While tourists take selfies in front of sumptuous, iconic Regency buildings, criminal gangs, thieves, drunks and drug users are threatening the popularity of the city they feed off.
Big Issue seller Holly Fraser, 49, has lived in Bath for 12 years.
“The buildings, architecture and the history have a lot to do with why people think Bath is beautiful but I’m in recovery, so I really struggle here because there are a lot of drugs.
“The Romanian gangs come here, especially around Christmas, and they buy up hundreds of Big Issues and pose as vendors. I’ve had to go to one member, a girl, and try to buy some off her – I only sell five or ten a week.
“Because it’s such a popular area for tourists it attracts crime.
“I see a lot of shoplifting going on, which is a problem here too.
“In the summer it gets pretty boozy too, the hen-parties and stag do’s make themselves very noticeable and loud on the streets, I don’t know if that might put visitors off coming here.”
The Sun revealed last year how a ten-strong gang of professional beggars preyed on the goodwill of tourists and locals by posing as homeless.
It is estimated they make at least £50 each a day, raking in £500 for ‘Mr Big’, who was seen dropping them off in a flash Mercedes, before they took a bus on the 12-mile trip home to Bristol.
The ten men and women, one who appeared to be heavily pregnant, all flash similar Sharpy-scrawled cardboard signs claiming they are hungry and homeless and wishing ‘God bless you’.
Local Tom Adams sells his poetry in the shadows of arches which used to be the gateway to the iconic Bath Abbey.
Born and bred in the vibrant city he describes as ‘amazing’, the 46-year-old author said: “There is lots to love about Bath, it’s an amazing city and really comes alive when there’s a rugby match on and the whole place gets really busy.
“You’ve got the abbey, the beautiful buildings, the Jane Austin and a great atmosphere.
“But it does have its problems. There are a lot of homeless people on the streets, which goes hand in hand with drug abuse.
“I’ve seen the Eastern European gangs posing as homeless, all with the same message on their signs saying, ‘God bless you’, and they’re not homeless at all, or from Bath.
“I know they make a lot of money begging but they’re also bulk buying copies of The Big Issue. They buy it for £2 and pose as official vendors, selling it on for £4. It makes it harder for genuine sellers to make money.”
On the sunny and freezing morning The Sun visited, drunks and beggars could be seen dotted around the city, sitting under grubby blankets on the cold stone pavements, many clutching beer cans or vodka bottles.
Marc GiddingsFormer homeless man Tom Adams sells his poetry under the arches near Bath Abbey[/caption]
Marc GiddingsPeople drinking on the steps of a church in Manvers Street, central Bath[/caption]
Marc GiddingsA closing down sale at a former department store in the city[/caption]
Lynn McCradie, 68, lives in a village just outside of the Georgian city and often visits for the day.
She said: “I love Bath, I like to come for the day walk around the shops, have lunch in a little café and light a candle for peace in the Abbey – it makes me feel nourished.
“I generally feel very safe, but what makes me feel sad is seeing people who are homeless begging on the streets, especially in this weather. This shouldn’t be happening in this day and age in Britain.”
Lynn was unaware businesses in the affluent city centre were buckling under the strain of the shoplifting, which has increased more than anywhere else in the UK.
The incidences of theft from stores increased by 83 percent in the year leading up to September 2024, with 138.6 incidences per 10,000 people – the eighth highest in the country.
Some businesses have been forced to use dummy stock on shelves, while the local House of Fraser is reported to have installed facial recognition cameras.
She said: “The reason there’s a lot of people shop-lifting is they don’t have the right justice in place.
“The police don’t take any notice unless it’s over a certain amount of money, which I think is absurd. It’s about the principal.
“I was bought up that you don’t steal. It’s verysad.
“I’m generally quite aware, and sometimes I’ll see someone and think I’m not walking through there, perhaps it’s intuition, but 99 per cent of the people I see here are lovely.”
Daghan Akpinar, 39, is a retail manager, originally from Greece.
Marc GiddingsLocal businessman Daghan Akpinar said he had handled countless shoplifting incidents[/caption]
Marc GiddingsRubbish can be seen piled high on street corners[/caption]
Marc GiddingsHomeless people in the centre of the city[/caption]
He said: “I love Bath, the history and architecture and the people are like one big family. I’ve been to France and Italy and love this city.
“I used to manage Boots and experienced a lot of shoplifting, obviously we used to have security guards but every day you’d see people stealing.
“There’s a walkie-talkie system so we would share information about seeing shoplifting or recognising them, so small businesses really need to apply for the grant which can help them protect themselves.”
As well as boozy pre-wedding bashes spilling onto the streets from swanky bars and restaurants, recent figures show Bath has the seventh highest number of hospital admissions for underage drinking.
Official NHS statistics show 70 under 18-year-olds were admitted to hospital for treatment from 2022-23, an increase of more than 150 per cent on the previous year.
Chillingly, despite Bath’s affluence and largely well-to-do residents, it hasn’t escaped the national knife-crime crisis.
Three teenagers who stabbed a boy to death at a 16th birthday party were jailed last year, as a judge warned of the dangers of a “plague of knife crime”.
Promising rapper Mikey Roynon, 16, was stabbed in the neck with a large knife during a house party in June 2023.
Shane Cunningham, 16, was convicted of murder while his two friends, Cartel Bushnell and Leo Knight, also 16, were found guilty of Mikey’s manslaughter, after a trial at Bristol Crown Court last year.
Cunningham received a life sentence and was ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years, while Bushnell and Knight received sentences of nine years and nine-and-a-half years youth detention respectively.
The Sun has contacted Bath and North East Somerset Council and Avon and Somerset Police for comment.
Bath named world’s best place to visit in 2025
THE New York Times has released its annual 52 Places to Travel 2025 – and named Bath as one of the very best spots.
This year celebrates the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.
The author lived in Bath while writing many of her novels (although her actual birthplace was Steventon in North Hampshire).
And along with events in other places around the UK such as Southampton and Winchester, Bath will be seeing a huge amount of events on this year.
The NYT says: “Jane Austen fans have a good reason to explore the southwest of England this year.
“It’s the 250th anniversary of her birth, and celebrations abound.
“In Bath, the Jane Austen Center is going all out, with dance balls and its Grand Regency Costumed Promenade.”
Historian Jane Worsley will present a talk about her life and her novels, while a retelling of Pride and Prejudice will take place at The Theatre Royal Bath.
And No. 8 College Street will open for the first time to the public, which is where she spent her final few weeks.
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