Residents concerned about sex work and litter in Imperial Road, Southampton

Residents who live near Imperial Road, Southampton have spoken of their disgust at the litter left near Mount Pleasant Junior School.

Many have said sex workers wait on the corner of the road at night and the waste left on the pavements is a result of these activities.

Resident Kerry, who has lived in the area for nearly 10 years, said: “It’s disgusting and horrible.

“My children go to Bevois Town Pre-School, so we walk past it all the time. I say, ‘don’t look on the floor’ and make sure they keep walking, but they see it every day.”

Bernadette Briton says she can no longer take her children to the nearby park “because of the used condoms and needles.”

The 38-year-old said: “My son goes to Mount Pleasant Junior School and my daughter goes to Maytree Infant and Nursery School and it’s awful here.

“Children shouldn’t know what these things are. We can’t use the park here because of the used condoms and needles. It is not nice.

“My son, who is eight, picked a needle up and I said to put it down.”

A Facebook group called ‘Outing Curb Crawlers of Empress Road’ has been set up to tackle the litter and “criminal activity.”

But resident Anna Amin, 35, says a message is needed to help tackle the issue.

She said: “This is where young children play and we see all this stuff in the bushes.

“I think there needs to be a message to stop people. These people go there as it is a place they can hide.

“It’s definitely a problem.”

Ward councillor Jacqui Rayment is keen to make sure the area is safe.

She said: “No one has raised it with me as a local ward councillor, but I would hope they have reported this to the police.

“Obviously, we need to make the neighbourhood as safe as possible for the community that lives there.

“If there is an issue, we need to make sure we do something about it, whether that’s the police or the council.

“If it’s happening, then it’s something we should make sure people, together, do something about it.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire Constabulary said that during the pandemic, there was a slight increase in women returning to sex work.

"The safety of communities and on street sex workers themselves remains one of our priorities which is why we carry out regular patrols in the area to help keep everyone safe.

"We know there have been complaints about on street sex workers but we have not seen an increase in reports. We are also aware that complaints are often made in respect of litter.

"Not all of the solutions to community concerns sit solely with the police; it requires a joined up approach with partners to help address the issues and deliver long term changes."

"We are working hard with partners at Southampton City Council to improve the safety of the area, having secured some funding from the Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Home Office bid.

"During the pandemic we did see a very slight increase in women returning to sex work or turning to sex work in order to make ends meet, but the on street sex working population has remained pretty static for the past 2 years."