The owner of a town shop and post office has spoken out about his fears for the area after being the victim of six raids in seven months, including an incident when a member of staff was pushed to the floor and ordered to empty the safe.
Ravinder Garcha, manager of Nisa Local shop at the Pensfold Shopping Centre in Gains Park, took over the former Co-op branch last October and re-opened a post office in the store in May.
He said the store was watched by 24 CCTV cameras, 16 of which were positioned inside. But despite the heavy surveillance, Mr Garcha has seen his shop targeted more times than any of his shops in Birmingham.
“I feel more than shocked,” he said. “In Birmingham it is all talk, people will just say their piece and then they’re gone, but here people have acted on it.”
On June 7, the store was robbed and an unspecified amount stolen from a safe.
Mr Garcha said: “It made members of staff that were working that night very scared and frightened.
They remained off work for a while and then both left their jobs.
“It’s a loss I have had to take on myself, but there are bigger losses to people’s lives. I do feel that renovation of the area is important, because that’s the first line of defence. Certain sections of the estate are not very welcoming and the whole area needs an upgrade.”
Councillor Peter Adams said he had been in talks with Shropshire County County for the past four years to get a temporary council-operated CCTV camera set up on top of the Nisa building to monitor anti-social behaviour.
“People do feel unsafe walking down passages in Gains Park as there’s not a lot of lighting,” he said. “Four years ago large parts of Gains Park looked quite dilapidated, but lots of new people have moved in and transformed the area.” He added that an increased CSO presence had helped to ease residents concerns.
A spokeswoman for the police said that investigations in to the robbery were still ongoing.