Councillor wants addicts to be 'banned' from city

A councillor wants to ban "heroin addicts and drunks" from the city centre

A councillor said he wants to ban "heroin addicts and drunks" from a city centre.

Councillor Andrew Bell said he has concerns over "widespread street drinking and drug use" at a Gloucester City Council meeting on Thursday.

Mr Bell said there was a "particular problem" at the Longsmith Street car park.

Community engagement cabinet member Rebecca Trimnell said: "At the end of the day they are human beings, they’ve got problems and we need to help them."

Mr Bell said a friend of his who works at the car park is “frightened to death about going there every day".

“She has to open up in the morning and in the dark,” he said. “It has to be two of them.

“We’ve got to do something about it," Mr Bell said.

"These people need banning from the city centre because if they aren’t high they are drunk. And we don’t need it.”

Ms Trimnell said more work needs to be done with the issue, and that the city council is working on a plan.

"Don’t get me wrong it is a problem," she said. “I’m not enforcement led but engagement led.

"I’m not one of these people who think we should get rid of these people from our streets."