Drunk yobs threaten pensioner in bus station

A drunk threatened to stub out a cigarette on Arthur Woodward’s neck after he asked the man to stop smoking in the travel centre, in Heygate Avenue.

Mr Woodward said he then looked on in horror as a woman urinated on the ground and the man who had threatened him urinated against the bus station glass.

Mr Woodward, who lives in Southchurch, said: “The police have to keep drunks out of there.

“They have promised to patrol it more regularly, but there were no officers in there today.

“I don’t know what more can be done to keep drunks out and stop them being abusive.”

He said about seven men and one woman aged between 20 and 40, had been drinking, smoking and drunkenly swearing in the bus station before last Monday’s incident.

Mr Woodward, a local historian, was waiting for a bus at the time.

He said: “There were other people in the bus station, but they seemed frightened.

“I’m the type of person who will complain. It’s not fair.”

Mr Woodward said the bus station was regularly plagued by drunks and anti-social behaviour.

Labour councillors Anne Jones and Julian Ware-Lane are also unhappy with the bus station, calling it “squalid” after a door was left broken for almost three weeks.

Bus passengers have also complained about dirty toilets and litter-covered floors.

However Cheryl Nevin Labour councillor for Milton ward, where the bus station stands, said she was unaware of any problems.

She said: “I know in York Road, nearby, there have been problems.

“I’ve spoken to residents in the area and there is a persistent problem with antisocial behaviour.”

A police spokesman said: “We were called shortly before noon on Tuesday, October 21, after reports of antisocial behaviour at the bus station at Heygate Avenue.

“It was reported groups of adults regularly congregated in the area and caused a nuisance.

“Officers attended, but found no trace of them.

“Police are monitoring the situation.”