BUSINESS owners are up in arms over what they call “the dark side of homelessness” after witnessing ongoing drug use and dealing close to their properties.

Over the last two years, managers and workers at Bournemouth Triangle have been faced with people sleeping rough and “shooting up” at a disused road running along the back of adult store Easy Tiger, Spiki’s barbershop, the Smokin’ Aces bar and Mint Leaf restaurant.

People have reportedly been sleeping in commercial bins, discarding hypodermic needles and using the alleyway as a toilet.

One person was seen slumped inside an old commercial oven that had been dumped.

Jonathan Spencer, owner of Easy Tiger, said he’d been verbally abused by one person when he’d asked them to stop urinating against his back door.

“It is just getting worse and worse and worse and it’s been really bad within the last few months,” he said.

Mr Spencer said he’s contacted Bournemouth Borough Council and Dorset Police about the matter but is getting nowhere fast.

“We’re told they are aware of it and they patrol the area,” he said. “That’s the only response I get. But nothing gets done at all.

“I have to take my rubbish to my Salisbury shop because of the risk to staff going out there. These are not nice people - they are aggressive and violent.

“The cameras I installed out the back, they’ve been smashed.

“[The council] needs to do more to get decent businesses in to fill the units up here but these are not the genuine homeless, they are addicts.”

Emma Garrett-James, manager of Spiki’s, said she feels sympathetic for anyone living on the streets but staff often feel intimidated by people gathering in the alleyway.

She said: “It can be quite daunting when you come out here and there’s five or six of them out here. It just doesn’t look right. One of them said ‘we’re not doing any harm here’ and I said ‘that’s fine’ but, by the time I’d finished my cigarette, his mate had come and said ‘I’ve scored you drugs’.

“There is a homeless problem in Bournemouth and they want to go somewhere that’s dry and safe but when they are leaving dirty needles and faeces on the floor it’s not nice.”

Bournemouth council: "We are aware of problems in this part of the Triangle"

A SPOKESMAN for Bournemouth Borough Council said they are working to tackle rough sleeping and anti-social behaviour, working with their Rough Sleeper Outreach Team and Dorset Police. 

Stuart Best, street services manager, added: “This alleyway is visited on a daily basis to empty the bins and collect any other litter. A road sweeper is also used and once a week it is disinfected to ensure it is kept as clean as possible.”

A spokeswoman for Dorset Police said: “We are aware of problems in this part of the Triangle and we have been working closely with the council, landlords and shop owners to assist with improving the area. Officers attend this area on a daily basis and if homeless people are located they are asked to move on, which they do. 

“If anti-social behaviour is reported then it is dealt with robustly.”