Preston residents asked to do one thing in area hit by street-drinking, drug-taking and fly-tipping

A councillor who represents a part of Preston blighted by antisocial behaviour is calling on residents to help him build a big picture of the problems they are facing.

St. Matthew's ward member Suleman Sarwar has launched a survey that he hopes will enable patterns of nuisance activity and crime to be more accurately identified - and so more easily rectified.

He told the Lancashire Post that knowing exactly what issues are occurring - and where - is the first vital step towards tackling them. But he said locals do not always come forward to register concern about anything problematic they may be witnessing in their neighbourhoods.

"As a ward councillor, I already have a good understanding of many of the issues that affect the area, whether it's street drinking, drug-related problems or fly-tipping. Vandalism and graffiti also tend to be raised quite a lot.

“But not everybody comes to [councillor] surgeries or police and community meetings. Sometimes people call you [about individual problems], but I want to reach a wider range of residents and ask them to have [their] say. I have a responsibility to make sure their voices are reflected in some way,” Cllr Sarwar said.

St.Matthew’s - which covers an area bounded by Blackpool Road, New Hall Lane, Ringway, North Road and a line running from Great George Street back to Blackpool Road - has long had its troubles when it comes to antisocial behaviour.

As the Post revealed in 2024, a phone box at the junction of East View and Meadow Street was operating as a drugs and sex den - and being used as a public toilet.

Part of the ward is covered by a public spaces protection order introduced in December, which aims to outlaw drinking alcohol and taking drugs in the street - along with acting in “a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person within a public space”.

St. Matthew’s also falls within Lancashire Police’s Prosper Partnership zone in Preston, a multi-agency project which seeks to tackle higher level serious and organised crime- and to prevent criminals from returning.

Cllr Sarwar says such initiatives are having an effect, but problems remain. On several occasions this year, a section of the ward has been subject to temporarily beefed-up stop-and-search powers in response to incidents - across a wider area - including armed youths roaming the streets.

Following on from National Antisocial Behaviour Awareness Week, Cllr Sarwar says he hopes residents will take part in his online survey - which also asks what can be done to improve the area - stressing that the people who call St. Matthew’s home are key to helping local agencies better understand the unchecked challenges that chip away at their quality of life.

“We’ve seen with Operation Prosper, for example, Lancashire Police, Preston City Council, Lancashire County Council, housing associations, the voluntary, community and faith sector all coming together. Everyone does fantastic work, but the residents themselves play a vital part in providing that information [for others to act upon] - because without the residents, we wouldn't get anything,” he said.