Sheffield’s ‘safe city’ status sparks debate among readers

The city has been awarded a ‘Purple Flag’ – a scheme which aims to raise the standard and broaden the appeal of town and city centres between 5pm and 5am – for the eighth successive year.

But a number of readers expressed concern about the amount of crime taking place in the city centre, including a number of reported stabbings in the last year. A few said they prefer other out of town areas, such as the up-and-coming Kelham Island. 

Graham West said: “How can it be safe with all the attacks last year in city centre?”

Dorothy Briggs “prefers Kelham Island bars and restaurants” as there seems to be an “older, decent, respectful crowd.” 

Rachael Johnson added that she “always goes there, never town.” 

Jonathan Morgan said: “Stay local. Hillsborough, Broomhill, Kelham Island, etc. 

“Too many idiots in town, a lot has changed in 10 years.”

But  Ronald Holmes believes we should support our city centre businesses.

He posted: “I never feel comfortable in the city centre these days although that is where I always used to go back in the 70s and 80s.

“You should support your local businesses because if you don't they will close and a lot of local heritage will be lost.

“You only have to look at my old playground of Darnall and Attercliffe to see the results.”   

But sergeant Matt Burdett, of the Sheffield Business Improvement District, said the introduction of ID scanners and crime scene preservation boxes had led to a reduction in the number of serious crimes.

He said: “The ID scanners are 99.9 per cent accurate in terms of picking up fake or tampered with IDs. They scan the ID and it pulls a picture up rather than having security trying to check them in poor lighting conditions, it will tell them how old a person is and records their details.

“It's a fantastic tool because if someone is going to go in and cause trouble do they really want to do that if their name and address has been scanned?”