THE policing priorities of Ross-on-Wye Town Council have been agreed with anti-social behaviour topping the list.

At Monday’s meeting of the town council, members heard about the ongoing issues with anti-social behaviour which included the vandalism of the Red Meadow car park toilets with graffiti being discovered on May 18 and flooding caused by tissues being placed in the urinal on May 28.

That incident caused the toilets to be closed for two days while the areas affected by flooding drained away and cleaned.

The councillors were told that on June 2, broken glass shards were found under the arches of the Market House along with vomit and human faeces, which had to be cleaned by council staff.

Having been cleansed from the previous incident in May, the Red Meadow toilet block was again the subject of another graffiti attack over the weekend of June 7 and 8.

The council also heard that the other main areas of concern were the use of illicit drugs in the town, shoplifting, theft and rural crime.

Cllr Milly Boylan pointed out that the amount of shoplifting in Ross has significantly reduced over the past year and added: “Shopkeepers who are part of shop watch have helped in this reduction by being vigilant. Of the eight known repeat shoplifting offenders on shop watch, only two are still active as the others have either died or are no longer participating in this field of criminality.”

Cllr Boylan suggested that the anti-social behaviour issues should be referred to the police and crime commissioner as this requires a far deeper conversation and the commissioner has funding to put into youth services.

She stated that the list of teenagers being excluded from the Basement Youth Club was growing, and was an example of where the devil makes work for idle hands because these individuals are not being supervised in a controlled environment.

Cllr Julian Utting said: “I am concerned in general over the lack of youth provision in Ross. But I’m not sure what this council can do to rectify this, as currently its voluntary groups that run these facilities.”

The council were told that the use of illicit drugs in Ross has gone through the roof and that Turning Point, the integrated substance misuse service based in Hereford, doesn’t have an outlet in the town.

Cllr Boylan added: “This has become an issue because the people in need of this service find it difficult, and do not have the wherewithal, to travel to Hereford to engage with the service which provides free and confidential support over their use of drugs.

“I feel that this council could make representations to Turning Point to try and get it to offer local consultations in this town centre so that those who need supporting get the service they expect.”

Cllr Boylan concluded: “You would have far less anti-social behaviour if it wasn’t for the drug problem, as these both need to be treated as the council’s priority and that tackling county lines should be the police’s priority locally.”