{"id":57499,"date":"2026-06-06T16:45:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T16:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/57499\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T16:45:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T16:45:56","slug":"broadstairs-businesses-describe-scary-crowds-of-youths-stealing-alcohol-as-kent-police-promise-summer-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/57499\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadstairs businesses describe \u2018scary\u2019 crowds of youths stealing alcohol as Kent Police promise \u2018summer crackdown\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Police say they are launching a \u201csummer crackdown\u201d on antisocial behaviour – as traders describe being scared of \u201cintimidating\u201d crowds of youths.<\/p>\n

Some businesses say they were forced to close when large numbers of young people descended on Broadstairs over the bank holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

This week, traders described their fears when confronted by large groups of youths wreaking havoc in the town centre.<\/p>\n

Salma Khalifa, of Albion Street’s Gemset, told KentOnline: \u201cIf you\u2019re working in the shop by yourself, it is quite frightening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I haven\u2019t personally had anyone come in and cause a problem, I have had young people stealing things from the shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Akshit Patel, who runs Londis in the High Street, says youths targeted his shop and others on the Bank Holiday Monday and the following day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to close the business for a couple of hours because of the anti-social behaviour from the kids,\u201d the 49-year-old said.<\/p>\n

\"Akshit\"AkshitAkshit Patel, who runs Londis in the high street, has spoken about problems with anti-social behaviour in Broadstairs<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are all underage, do not have ID and know they will not get served, so they just steal the alcohol.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Saturday and Sunday, it was crowded and scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria Goldfinch, who runs the New Old Bakehouse in the High Street, says the behaviour of groups of youths affected businesses all over town.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had them loitering outside, stealing from Tesco and Londis, and people being disruptive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy tea rooms suffered tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Maria\"MariaMaria Goldfinch, who runs the New Old Bakehouse in the high street, has spoken about problems with anti-social behaviour in Broadstairs<\/p>\n

Another business owner, who asked to remain anonymous, said youths punched their mother’s car windscreen on the Saturday of the bank holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Monday, because of looting other businesses had reported, I closed and lost a day\u2019s trading,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

The trader commended police for enforcing a dispersal order \u201cfairly quickly\u201d amid disruption in summer 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, I don\u2019t think they were as prepared as they should have been,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they monitor social media, they might have been aware of what was going to happen and could have implemented a dispersal order quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Salma\"SalmaSalma Khalifa, who works at Gemset in Albion Street, has spoken about problems with anti-social behaviour in Broadstairs<\/p>\n

The chaos followed a \u201cBroadstairs Biggest Link Up\u201d<\/a> event promoted by an influencer, which sparked backlash from residents.<\/p>\n

Videos on TikTok showed trains crammed with young people heading for the coast, and footage later showed officers dispersing crowds at Viking Bay amid reports of underage drinking and shoplifting<\/p>\n

In response to the packed trains, East Thanet MP Polly Billington suggests installing a ticket barrier at Broadstairs railway station could tackle fare evasion and help police identify \u201ccriminals and troublemakers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something the police are calling for, and they have my full support,\u201d the Labour MP said.<\/p>\n

But businesses were divided over this when we spoke to them this week.<\/p>\n

\"Polly\"PollyPolly Billington, MP for East Thanet, is calling for ticket barriers to be installed at Broadstairs railway station<\/p>\n

Salma Khalifa said: \u201cI come from London, and people dodge the barriers all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need an increased presence at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria Goldfinch says installing the gates would be a \u201cwaste of money\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need police patrolling,\u201d she said. \u201cHow do you know they won\u2019t jump over the barriers?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not going to stop kids coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Police\"PolicePolice were forced to intervene to tackle anti-social behaviour on Broadstairs beach over the bank holiday<\/p>\n

But Mr Patel said: \u201cIt might help them have a bit more control.\u201d<\/p>\n

British Transport Police (BTP) says it does not have a routine, fixed presence at Broadstairs or Margate railway stations.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: \u201cWhere intelligence or demand indicates an increased risk, BTP will work closely with partners, including Kent Police and Southeastern Railway, to provide an appropriate policing and security response or visible presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Eastern Railway\u2019s safety, planning and performance director, Scott Brightwell, said that while ticket barriers can help tackle fare evasion, they are \u201cnot a standalone solution\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstalling them at an ungated station is a complex project that requires careful planning and funding approval,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"An\"AnAn image from a TikTok reportedly showing a packed train which departed from Broadstairs during the bank holiday weekend. Picture: amisaccx \/ TikTok<\/p>\n

\u201cOur immediate focus at Broadstairs, as across the network, is tackling anti\u2011social behaviour with British Transport and Kent Police directly through visible enforcement and close partnership working.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Southeastern \u201ccontinually reviews\u201d whether additional resources are needed at stations.<\/p>\n

It is understood that a gated entrance would cost in the region of a seven-figure sum, and two would be needed at Broadstairs.<\/p>\n

Kent Police say they have \u201crobust plans\u201d in place to tackle rowdy behaviour.<\/p>\n

Last weekend (May 29 to 31), officers deployed to Margate and Broadstairs moved on 52 people and made eight arrests. Offences included refusing to comply with a dispersal order, possession with intent to supply drugs and various other public order offences.<\/p>\n

\"Police\"PolicePolice were forced to intervene to tackle anti-social behaviour on Broadstairs beach over the bank holiday<\/p>\n

The force\u2019s crackdown includes plans for high-visibility patrols, targeted operations and the use of dispersal orders and other powers.<\/p>\n

Chief Inspector Ian Swallow, district commander for Thanet, said: \u201cWe have robust plans in place to tackle weather-related antisocial behaviour that will inevitably occur, and it was pleasing to see how calm Margate and Broadstairs were last weekend in light of our ongoing work to disperse troublemakers from the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur officers were highly visible across the weekend and had many positive engagements with local people and business owners, who I would like to thank for their ongoing support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not complacent and know there are many more warm weekends ahead of us, but we are well prepared and will not tolerate any irresponsible behaviour that risks ruining the summer for the vast majority of law-abiding sunseekers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last summer, Kent Police received 10,225 reports relating to antisocial behaviour, including multiple reports for the same incidents.<\/p>\n

The reports equate to about eight per policing district per day, with the majority relating to nuisance gatherings, followed by drunken or rowdy behaviour and nuisance vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police say they are launching a \u201csummer crackdown\u201d on antisocial behaviour – as traders describe being scared of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[61,309,1084,5,6],"class_list":["post-57499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-crime","tag-kent","tag-thanet","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116704181164586741","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}