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Call for more action against shops fronting criminal activity

Martin HeathHertfordshire political reporter
News imageMartin Heath/BBC Alexander Curtis with short ginger hair and black-framed glasses. He is wearing a white shirt, grey jacket and dark grey coat. He is standing in a town centre street at night with lights in the background. There is a two-storey building behind him.Martin Heath/BBC
Councillor Alexander Curtis said shops which were fronts for criminality were "the scourge of our high streets"

A councillor called for more action to close shops where illegal activities occurred.

Alexander Curtis believed Hertfordshire's town centres had some businesses, such as vape shops and barbers, that were "really fronts for criminal activity".

He tabled a motion for discussion at Tuesday's county council meeting.

Hertfordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner said that while lots of vape shops and barbers were legitimate, there were signs for spotting ones that were not. He also said he had "put more focus" into high streets and town centres.

News imageMartin Heath/BBC Two sheets of white A4 paper headed "closure order" detailing the reasons why a shop has been closed down, signed by a magistrate. The sheets are attached to the window of a shop.Martin Heath/BBC
Some shops have been closed down, such as this vape shop

Alongside the colourful adverts for vapes in the windows of a shop in Hoddesdon were two stark notices headed "closure order".

It warned that anyone who entered the premises without authorisation could be sent to prison.

Hertfordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Jonathan Ash-Edwards, said: "This is an example of where there's been some really good joint working between the police and Trading Standards and the local council where a closure order has been secured at Magistrates' Court following some concerns about the sale of vapes to children."

But Curtis, a Conservative councillor, believed there was power to go further to stamp out what he calls "the scourge on our high streets".

He said: "We need to have the funding for Trading Standards, especially in terms of counterfeit goods, that will allow us to gather evidence to get the council to apply for more of these orders."

He hoped his motion to the council would gain cross-party support at the Liberal Democrat-led council and focus the minds of those involved in his council's budget-setting process.

News imageMartin Heath/BBC Jonathan Ash-Edwards with short grey hair and glasses, wearing a grey jacket and white shirt. He is standing under a covered pavement to which Christmas decorations have been attached and there are shops in the background.Martin Heath/BBC
The police and crime commissioner, Jonathan Ash-Edwards, said there were tell-tale signs of shops where criminal activity took place

Ash-Edwards said many vape shops and barbers were legitimate, but there were ways of spotting those that are not.

"It's the kind of shops that are always open but never seem to have any customers in them," he said.

"It's the shops that advertise products that they actually have very few of in stock."

He added that some of these shops were "just fronts for more organised crime," and urged landlords to be careful who they let their properties to.

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