Sheffield council claim people 'outside the area' are causing problems on West Street

A Sheffield business owner was left outraged earlier this month after a 'spice addict'w as filmed dancing outside his salon with his jeans around his ankles.

The man can be seen holding a can of what appears to be lager in the footage, filmed at 10am.

John Colgrave, owner of The Avenue Salon, said that there was also another man across the road performing a sex act.

A number of residents and businesses have been left frustrated by the growing number of 'drug users' causing anti-social behaviour problems on West Street.

Mr Colgrave called on the council to become involved in the issue and suggested the Victoria Court Housing Project out of the city centre.

However, the council has claimed that it is in face 'residents outside the area' causing problems on the street.

Councillor Jim Steinke, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety at Sheffield City Council said: “Residents of the Victoria Court programme, which has been there since the 90’s are not responsible for the anti-social behaviour on West Street. People coming from outside the area are the cause.

“Staff from Victoria Court do not recognise the man in the photographs provided by The Star.

“Tracey Ford, our officer who helps coordinate Sheffield’s Help us help campaignwww.helpushelp.uk has been in touch with Mr Colgrave re this issue.

"He welcomed the contact and they are now going to meet next week to discuss his concerns in more detail. Tracey will give him an overview of the partnership work already taking place, explain the complexity of the issues we’re dealing with, options for reporting incidents most effectively, and options for supporting him and his staff in their workplace if they have further incidents.

“She has also been working with pubs on West Street advising them on how to deal with similar issues relating to substance misuse related anti-social behaviour."

Victoria Court is a homeless project on Victoria Street providing temporary or longer supported accomodation through Sheffield City Council.

Clients must be referred by the council either under homeless legislation or due to a support need.

Residents are assessed by the council to see if they 'have a priority need or a local connection and to check that they are not intentionally homeless'.

Sheffield City Council said it has launched a new Spice treatment clinic where users can be seen immediately for an assessment.

Councillor Chris Peace, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care at Sheffield City Council said: “Our Drug and Alcohol Co-ordination Team (DACT) is co-ordinating an extensive response to Spice use and will have trained over 400 professionals by the autumn to help deal with the problem.

There is a newly launched Spice treatment clinic on Sidney Street in the city centre where any Spice user can be seen straightaway for an assessment. Over 3,000 people are in treatment for drug use in the city and we’re working really hard to help all of them.

“We understand how distressing the effects of Spice use is for the people using it, and for members of the public who witness Spice use, and we would like to reassure people that we are co-ordinating all of our efforts to make help available and to let people know what to do if they see someone in difficulty.”