Homeless people are moving into Alsager because of its “lovely” residents who buy them food, drinks and offer them money, according to a supermarket manager.
Concerns were raised with town councillors this week about rough sleepers drinking alcohol, acting “lairy” and “intimidating” Asda staff.
A bag of used needles and other drug paraphernalia were spotted under a bush in the town centre on Wednesday, and the public toilet in the supermarket had to be closed and sanitised when staff found “needles, blood and all sorts” after a visit from a man who had been sleeping outside.
Alsager resident Lorraine Standring said she “made a beeline” for Coun Michael Unett during his surgery at Alsager Civic last Wednesday.
She said: “I was not happy that (a number of people) seemed to have made camp outside St Mary’s Church, which shocked me. I know churches are meant to be there for everybody, but it doesn’t look very good.
“People feel intimidated walking to Milton Park because they were congregating by the side of the public toilets on the bench. I saw about five people one morning, all drinking (alcohol).”
But Mrs Standring said she felt compelled to warn parents after she discovered a bag containing syringes and other drug paraphernalia under a bush next to Bayfield’s Opticians near the Lawton Road crossing.
She said: “As I was crossing the road, I spotted a bag sticking out under the bushes. I could see a pair of jeans in it and at the bottom, there was a syringe in a paper wrapper. There were quite a few at the bottom of the bag.”
After carrying it to Alsager Pharmacy, she emptied the contents on to the floor and discovered clothes, another grey bag filled with used syringes, and other drug paraphernalia, which was disposed of by pharmacy staff.
Mrs Standring said: “My worry was that a kid could have found it and put their hand in and been pricked by one of the syringes. They might be too scared to go home and tell their mum and dad. It doesn’t bear thinking about.
“Children need to be warned that if they find anything that doesn’t look right, they should tell an adult. Don’t investigate.”
Gary Bray, the manager at Alsager’s Asda store, said three people had been sleeping outside for around six weeks.
“I’ve put up with it for a while. I know they’re really desperate people, and not everybody knows the situation of how someone can end up on the street. It can be drugs or family issues – you don’t know the background, so you try to be sympathetic.
“The lovely people of Alsager have been giving them money, drinks and food. They’ve told us that they can easily get on the train from Stoke to Alsager without anybody checking their tickets, and Alsager being a nice town where the people are nice, they come here.”
But Mr Bray said he was forced to call the police after one of the men was seen on cctv entering the public toilets.
He said: “My colleague went in after he’d left. That was enough proof for the police that he’d done drugs in the toilet. It wasn’t a very pleasant site, there was blood and needles and all sorts in there.
“We had to lock the toilets and follow the right procedures around needles, to have them cleaned. We didn’t reopen them until the following morning at about 11am.”
Mr Bray, who has managed the store for the last two years, said he had previously worked for Asda in Birmingham, Stafford and Telford branches.
He said: “It was nice to come here to a homely town and not to have to deal with this kind of thing, but now it’s started here as well.
“When they first appeared, they weren’t too bad and would move on when you asked, but then I’ve had a few customers say they’re getting a bit lairy when you refuse to give them money or bring them out anything.”
