The Lancaster MP has invited the Home Secretary to see the work being done to crack down on anti social behaviour in the city centre.
Cat Smith took the opportunity in the House of Commons to highlight the work being done by Lancaster BID to support police in their efforts.
Priti Patel said she’d be happy to visit Lancaster again and praised the work of the force.
Ms Smith said: ‘’Last week I met with directors of the Business Improvement District in Lancaster, where we discussed the issue of anti social behaviour in our city centre.
‘’Would the Home Secretary accept my invitation to come to Lancaster to meet with the directors of Lancaster BID and hear about the work they’re doing funding s BID warden to support police on Lancaster City Centre to reduce anti social behaviour?’’
In response, the Home Secretary said: ‘’I thank the Honourable Lady for her question and if I may I’d like to pay tribute to her police force and also the Police and Crime Commissioner, Andrew Snowden.
‘’I was recently in Lancaster and I’d be delighted to visit again and I want to emphasise the power of these Business Improvement Districts when it comes to dealing with issues such as anti social behaviour, but also giving businesses the confidence they need to ensure they’ve got the support they need from police and also that they can carry on investing in their business and creating jobs locally.’’
In a statement afterwards, Cat Smith said: ‘’Anti social behaviour is a serious issue, and I want to help make Lancaster a welcoming place.
‘‘I’m really pleased Priti Patel accepted my invitation to meet with the BID to hear about their work on this, and hopefully we can make the case for restoring the police (officers that have been) cut.’’
In recent weeks, there have been extra patrols in Lancaster city centre in an attempt to crack down on such behaviour. Meanwhile, applications closed only yesterday for a fresh intake of officers into Lancashire Constabulary.
The ongoing crackdown on anti social behaviour in the city centre comes as recent figures show that Lancaster is continuing to recover from the impacts of Covid, with figures showing footfall returning much faster than the average for the rest of the UK.
Quarter 1 results show Lancaster footfall increasing at 33.6% above the national benchmark and up 46.5% against the benchmark for region. The figures are calculated through comparisons with Q1 2021 (Lancaster +161.5%, UK +127.9%, Region +115.1%).
Saturday remains the busiest day of the week and the busiest hour is midday during the week and 1.00pm at weekends.
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