Leeds street where traders see 'drug deals, fights and people having sex'

Shops have said there is no CCTV facing their businesses

Leeds city centre businesses have called for more CCTV after seeing ‘fights, drug dealing, rough sleeping and people having sex’.

Businesses in the Kirkgate area have complained about the lack of external cameras in place at its lower end. They’ve said a range of illegal and anti-social behaviour occurs on the historic street, towards the train bridge near where a building front collapsed in 2024.

Leeds City Council said it works with Leeds Street Support Team to tackle the issues and have said there is CCTV on Kirkgate and the nearby Call Lane. However, Kirkgate businesses said the CCTV is located higher up on the half-mile road, towards Greggs, and not further down. A business on a separate stretch of Call Lane, on the opposite side of the Corn Exchange, said there was no CCTV there either.

Katie, a supervisor at Duck & Drake, on Kirkgate, has seen her fair share of illegal and anti-social behaviour and has even been targeted herself. She’s worked at the pub for eight years. Katie said: “I’ve been mugged, threatened, cleaned up needles and broken up fights. You see people taking drugs intravenously, rough sleeping, engaging in coitus, and conducting business that’s illegal.”

Myke Greaves, 36, co-owns Blue Collar Barbering, on Kirkgate, with Paul Mason. They’ve been in business for eight years. Myke said: “You walk down the street on a morning, there’s crackheads smoking crack on the benches across the road. There are fights. They’re constantly dealing drugs behind the bins.

“There are times we’ve had bottles thrown at us, outside. Our shop has been smashed up four times. People getting in through the door and people even staring at our internal cameras.”

Underground Bakery is located around the corner from Kirkgate, on Call Lane. The bakery’s shop manager Dan Keat said: “Drug addicts, people who are really struggling, a varying range of behavioural issues. I think high empathy and understanding is where you start, but it’s not necessarily where you end.

“Unfortunately, I had a female colleague working here, before, and it became too much for her, and she had to go back and work in Otley. We think there was a stalking situation but we’re not quite sure.

“When we first opened, our neighbours said ‘if they put your windows through, it’s not personal’. It hasn’t happened, we’ve been well looked after. To be honest, it’s random drunk people who have caused more issues. We see a lot of drug dealing going on at the end of our street, here. We very recently learned there is no CCTV there.”

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: "Working with partners, the Leeds Street Support Team aims to provide help to anyone vulnerable living on the street. This includes tackling issues around rough sleeping, begging, substance misuse and addiction, criminality, anti-social behaviour and others.

“CCTV is in operation in both Kirkgate and Call Lane and we encourage businesses to report any incidents so that the council and its partners can discuss these issues directly.

“The council continues to work to improve the trading environment for businesses in this area of the city, including meeting regularly with many of the businesses on and around Kirkgate.”