Drug dealing in Evesham open and blatant - mayor

Evesham's mayor Alan Booth said he saw "quite a lot" of drug dealing in the town

Drug dealing has become "blatant" on the streets of Evesham, its mayor has said.

Alan Booth said "everybody knows it's going on" and that it happened openly in the street, not down hidden alleyways.

Former door supervisor Donna Atkin said it was "probably the worst we've ever seen it".

John Campion, West Mercia police and crime commissioner, said there was "ongoing work" to disrupt the trade.

Mr Booth told BBC Hereford and Worcester he saw transactions, sometimes involving dealers on bikes, "quite a lot" when he was out in the town.

"There's lots of little places around the town where they can deal and not be seen, but it's gone from that now, on to the open street," he said.

Ms Atkin added: "When we first started doing the doors in Evesham it had a drug problem, but since Covid the rise... is tenfold."

"People don't try and hide it as much any more. It's a shame, because it was such a beautiful town to be in."

West Mercia's Police and Crime Commissioner, John Campion, said the issue was being tackled

She said she believed the result had been that people, especially older people, had been put off coming into the town.

"It's so intimidating for them now," she said.

Mr Campion said there was sometimes an issue of perception, but accepted: "The fact is we have got drugs in our towns."

Despite that, he said work was going on to address it, but it "could not always be done in plain sight".

He added he recognised that more could be done to reassure people in the town that this was happening.