Episode 8 Street Patrol UK

Our lives are blighted by antisocial behaviour -

whether it's nuisance neighbours, graffiti on the streets

or too much booze.

Enjoy yourself, have a drink. Don't be a twit all night.

It's all right, darlin'.

This is the story of police officers,

council wardens and local volunteers

whose job it is to keep it off our streets.

It's the person who's having to live next door to it

and having to put up with this. It's just not acceptable.

Welcome to Street Patrol UK.

Coming up on today's programme,

the street wardens stretched to the limit

by travellers' campsites at the smartest addresses in town.

They use this area as a toilet, so they urinate, defecate.

So just a big mess.

The greedy thieves whose daylight robbery

affected an entire community.

Couldn't believe it.

Couldn't believe that so much of the roof had gone.

And picking up the pieces in a town centre

with people who've drunk too much and taken drugs.

-Am I going to die?

-No, sweetie.

-I don't want to die!

The melting pot of a big city brings with it its own mixed bag

of antisocial behaviour.

But when that city has over eight million people

all jostling for position on a daily basis,

it takes some special skills to keep the peace.

Every capital city is a magnet for people from all over the country

and the world to see the sights, ply their trades -

and for some, it may be a chance to change their lives forever.

London is no exception.

Every year, millions of visitors come to town

to enjoy the unique attractions the city has to offer.

It's so diverse. It's the best place. It's my favourite city.

It's one of the main hubs of creativity in art and music, and it's all on my doorstep.

I love London. I think it's very cosmopolitan.

It's a lovely place to work and live in.

You can get on the Tube and be surrounded by different languages.

A beautiful thing.

The central area of Westminster is one of the busiest,

most expensive and prestigious parts of town,

and the Westminster council wardens who patrol this area

-have a great enthusiasm...

-Excuse me, fella! Whoa!

..for the daily battle they have on their hands.

Over a million people come into Westminster every day,

and we have to make sure that the streets are clean, safe,

and they can enjoy Westminster.

When you see the smiles on faces, or when somebody waves at you

when they've seen you deal with an issue, it makes it worthwhile.

I get a sense of doing good. I've done something,

achieved something. It gives me satisfaction.

However, in recent years there's been a worrying rise

in one of the most difficult of all antisocial trends - begging.

This particular spot here, this phone booth right outside my office,

there's one particular lady who sits here,

and she's obviously disturbing my customers

and they feel a bit threatened,

and they feel a bit odd walking in here.

I do come out a lot of the times and try to move them off,

and when I threaten them that I'm going to call the police,

they're not worried about it. They tell me it doesn't matter.

It's a criminal offence. We don't want to come back

and take any further action.

Although it looks very sad that somebody's on the street begging,

it's often part of a bigger problem of organised gangs

who are sending these people out on the street -

not improving their lives, making it worse

and using them to make a profit.

Warden Brian spent nearly 24 years in the Navy

before joining Westminster council,

and is just the man to keep the area shipshape and Bristol-fashion.

ID card. Carte de identitate.

Carte.

It's classed as antisocial behaviour,

and as a council, that's part of our responsibility.

So we take details, disrupt where we can,

and feed it back into the criminal-intelligence chain,

and get action taken that way.

It's affecting the business and the area as well.

They come in to the tables, eating from the food

and asking for the money. It's not nice.

When we serving customers, all of a sudden they come

and they just asking for money. It feels...not good at all.

Now, I know what you're thinking. It's a hard life if you have to beg.

But the harsh reality is that begging is illegal.

It can be intimidating, and it's often linked

to other types of criminality, like pickpocketing.

So, just like any other kind of illegal or antisocial behaviour,

the council has a duty to do all it can to keep it off the streets.

You on your own today?

And no ID? You been here one month. You got no ID.

'This particular young lady's only been in the country,

'or so she claims, for a month,

'but she knows that this is the location to beg.'

So there's intel being passed around,

either from an organised level, so she's here as part of another gang,

or she's discovered before coming here

that Edgware Road is a good place for getting money given to them.

She's pregnant. So she's been in the country for one month,

claims she hasn't got her ID card. We've got no way of checking

or going any further with that.

Because she seems particularly vulnerable,

we're not going to pursue the issue too much.

'We're just going to move her along.'

In the evenings, nighttimes, they'll target the West End

with flower sellers and other ways of attracting money there,

and more criminal activity, and during the day,

when there's not too great a footfall,

they'll go where they're more likely to get money from passersby.

Begging isn't the only problem facing the wardens.

Travellers sleeping rough

and creating an unhygienic dumping ground in a residential area

is also a major challenge.

With the freedom of movement between European countries,

there has been a significant rise in the number of people

coming into the UK, and particularly to London,

to try and make a better life for themselves and their families

in any way they can.

The trouble is, with no money and nowhere to go,

a group of Romanian travellers have taken up residence

in one of the most exclusive and desirable addresses

on anyone's Monopoly board - Park Lane,

and are making it just the kind of visitor attraction

that everybody would like to avoid.

We work really hard

to make these the best and cleanest streets in the country,

and then all of a sudden, dropped in the middle,

you get a camp of travellers,

and the impact that has for people walking past.

And there's also a fear factor with the crime attached,

with the pickpocketing and the aggressive begging,

and the other issues that come along with having to survive

in a foreign country without having a job and a support structure.

These unsightly encampments have become a real headache

for the team of wardens, who are determined

that this antisocial camping is not going to become a blight

on their beloved city. But will they succeed?

They use this area as a toilet, so they urinate, defecate...

So just a big mess.

It's one thing getting worked up about litter, graffiti,

gangs of people hanging around town centres late at night.

But when the one thing that really winds you up

is happening right on your own doorstep,

well, that's when things can get out of hand.

Ismail Ali works for a housing association in Gloucester.

He's been dealing with a dispute between two neighbours,

and has just had a call from one of the women

complaining yet again about the other one. He's had enough,

and has decided to sort this out face to face.

We've come to visit the two households today

that have been complaining about antisocial behaviour

and intimidation, just tit-for-tat arguments,

and I'm here to try to defuse the situation

by dealing with the matter head-on.

Ismail's meant to deal with serious antisocial behaviour

like drug-dealing, but he gets ten cases a month like this -

neighbours who simply can't get along.

HE KNOCKS

Hiya, Sharon. It's Ismail from Oxbode.

-Yeah?

-I just need to speak to you quickly.

The situation is that I've been called by both Tammy and Emma, OK?

-Not going to make news today.

-No. Right, you need to hear me out.

Sharon and her neighbour Tammy used to be best friends,

but they fell out when Tammy became friends with someone else on the estate.

Thursday night or Friday, I said to Tammy,

"Why did you text Kayleigh and say you were reporting me?"

"I haven't done nothing." She said, "I haven't. It was Emma."

And that was said in front of her husband.

-Let him just see it!

-Can I have a look at that?

So, this is Emma responding to you?

Sharon's daughter has become involved too.

She and Tammy's friend Emma have been trading insults on Facebook,

and the whole thing is in danger of escalating

into an antisocial nightmare.

So you've responded, "I stare cos you always looking."

"You always got to do and say (BLEEP)."

-I've just done this. I don't need to approach her.

-"I want it to stop."

I've had to leave everything in the office because of this situation.

-I've just spoken to you.

-I can't leave -

That's fine, but bottom line is, Sharon, that we need this to stop,

-because it'll get silly from here on in.

-I never said one word to her.

Both sides think it's the other one's fault,

but Ismail isn't interested in taking sides.

The housing association runs this whole estate,

and disputes between neighbours can poison the entire neighbourhood.

He needs to nip it in the bud.

If you guys don't get along, keep out of each other's way.

If it means you walking across the road, and you don't make eye contact,

I'm happy with that. Do you know how silly that sounds?

"She's staring at me and I'm staring at her."

Are you listening? No staring. No looking. Thank you.

I'm warning both households time and time again.

My leniency, my jurisdiction, will end at some point,

and I will have no choice but to take this further.

Social-networking sites

have literally taken over housing officers' lives

in one manner of speaking,

because a lot of the offences are caused

via social-networking sites, and this is one of the issues here

that we're talking about today.

Gone are the days where landlords were only about bricks, mortar

windows and roofs. They come with very different issues

that they're faced with. That has a knock-on effect

on how their behaviour and tolerance within a community is.

Hiya, Tammy. You all right? I was on the estate,

-so I thought I'd come and see you.

-Let me get in. You coming in?

Yeah. I'll come to you. Get the kids in.

Tammy's the one who's been making the complaints,

but Ismail needs her to understand that she's got a responsibility

to sort this out too.

-I've come here to try and resolve -

-You said that on the phone.

-I'm trying to resolve it for you, Emma and Sharon.

-Yeah.

-Obviously this seems like tit-for-tat, yeah?

-It is!

-Well, on her part it is.

-I just spoke to her daughter as well,

and she showed me the messages on Facebook or whatever,

and basically Emma is giving as good as she gets,

-and so is Kayleigh, OK?

-Yeah, but if you were having an argument -

-Let me finish, Tammy.

-You wouldn't back down.

Let me finish, and then you respond, OK?

You rang today... Do you understand? I need to get to the bottom of it.

Here we go. Let's get Emma down as well.

I'm going to go see Emma.

This dispute has been going on for four months,

and if Ismail doesn't sort it out now, it could end up in court.

I have not got an issue with her whatsoever.

So what am I meant to do when she says she's got no issues with you?

Tell her to stop staring and saying stuff.

She's saying she's not doing it.

Or her daughter bringing my kids into it,

cos I swear to God, I will fill her in.

-Emma?

-Yeah?

I'm Ismail from Oxbode. Obviously Tammy's explained to you

why I'm here, and it's about the situation with Sharon.

Emma arrives, and Ismail gives everyone one last chance.

He's inviting all three women to take a cool and calm approach,

to sit round a table and sort it out together.

So what we're going to do is, send a letter to your house,

send a letter to Tammy and Sharon. You'll all come into the office.

This is our final furlong now, for us to be able to resolve it.

-If we don't -

-It's pathetic. It's pathetic!

-They're acting like children.

-That's what I'm saying,

but I'm getting that same back, so what's the end result?

I'm playing devil's advocate. Do you get me, Emma?

So bottom line is, as adults, we resolve it, yeah?

You're trying to make a better neighbourhood of this area, so...

All right, guys? I will see you soon.

Ismail will now set up a mediation session.

His no-nonsense approach means he's got a great success rate

with these types of dispute. His aim is to resolve the argument for good,

so the whole estate is a happy place to live for all residents.

When it comes to how metal theft can affect a whole community,

just take a look at this.

This is Asfordby Church in Leicestershire,

which has been part of the village community for eight centuries.

The Reverend Sue Paterson has been the vicar here for over four years.

It was Easter two years ago. I came in,

and I could see the patterns of the sunlight on the floor.

You can't usually, cos there's a roof in the way.

And when we went and had a look

we found that the entire north aisle had been stripped of all its lead.

We were pretty disgusted by that.

But a fortnight later, the lead thieves were back!

This time they came to the south side,

and they removed half of the south aisle,

and then they came back again and took what was on the porch.

It was very distressing for the congregation,

because this church is in use an awful lot.

We had a toddler group that was meeting twice a week here,

and they had to go and meet somewhere else for a while.

Some of them never did come back.

Little did Reverend Sue know, but hers was not the only church

to be targeted for such a shocking antisocial theft.

Up to 20 other churches had been robbed

in three neighbouring counties.

We're in Quadring in Lincolnshire,

and this is the church of St Margaret's,

and this church or something of its nature has stood on this site

for about 700 years now.

I was contacted one night by the Reverend Hardingham,

who's the assistant priest here,

to say that apparently we'd lost half the roof of the church.

The lead had been stolen.

At the tower end, about a third of the roof had been stripped

front and back, and then on the north face,

which is the side you can't see from here,

a further third had actually been stripped, rolled up,

and was presumably ready for whoever had done this

to come back and take it the next night.

The trouble was, at that time, the soaring price of metals,

including lead, meant that churches across the country

were easy targets for thieves, who could get up to £1,000 a ton

for their antisocial loot.

The thefts had a massive impact on the congregations

of the targeted churches.

The feeling was one of outrage.

Couldn't believe it.

Couldn't believe that so much of the roof had gone.

The lead going led us to...

well, such problems with water coming in.

And not just the floor, because it was where it could come in

and sort of ran down on the stonework inside.

-It's made a mess of that.

-Yeah.

It was a complete shock, and it was sadness as well,

that people have to do such things.

It's the world we live in, I suppose.

There were nearly 100 reports of church-lead thefts

during the first half of 2011.

Something had to be done.

So Lincolnshire Police set up a task force

to focus on these antisocial crimes

that were blighting whole communities

across Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

One particular church warden was that worried

that his church was going to be hit, he actually drew up a rota

where himself and some of his community

were actually sleeping in the church overnight,

because they couldn't afford the repairs.

The antisocial side of things was massive on them.

When we've been doing funerals in here,

it's quite embarrassing that you're saying to people,

"You can go and sit there, but there's buckets."

"Might be better to sit the other side."

And a funeral is a sad enough occasion

without having to negotiate buckets.

So the loss of the lead is far more than an inconvenience

for the regular congregation.

It's a major problem for the whole community.

Why would they come back to a building that hasn't been repaired

two years later?

And what do you think it takes to replace a stolen rooftop?

Yep - a miracle.

The total bill for the replacement of the roof here,

then all the incidental damage through water ingress in the church

came close to £60,000.

But unfortunately there have been so many lead thefts from roofs

that the insurance companies who cover churches

have now capped the amount that they will pay out for any claim

to about £25,000.

So this parish was left to find £35,000.

We've had to do a lot of fundraising,

because although people tend to think the church can just get a grant

or get some mysterious money from somewhere,

actually that's not the case.

There is no central pot to reimburse churches for lead thefts.

Last year in total we raised over £5,000

in different events that we'd been running.

Now, because of the roof,

we've got to raise a tremendous amount of money

to help to repair the roof.

When your major focus is raising something like £55,000,

it really does put the mockers on a lot of things

that we would have done.

To me it is the fact that, without the roof,

we can't function as the church is, and should be for everyone.

As the investigation hots up,

will the police manage to stop the greedy lead thieves

before any more communities are hit,

or will they uncover much more than they bargained for?

It was clear to me there was a potential organised-crime group

involved in this type of offence.

'I've been out on a street patrol of my own

'to find out what bothers you about Britain today.'

-And what's your name, young man?

-My name is Ron.

-Nice to meet you.

-Are you local?

-I live in Croydon.

-OK, not far. South London way.

-Sure.

-What sort of antisocial habits do you see that you hate?

The begging. It's getting out of hand at the moment,

cos you can't walk in London without being pestered

for a bit of this, a bit of that,

so they should not be allowed to be marauding on the streets

disturbing our peace and quiet, selling us stuff that's quite fake.

Kerry, you're a young mum with two young children.

-What really winds you up?

-When I take my little one to the park

and people bring their dogs into the actual play part of the park,

and they don't clean their mess up or just leave it there,

or, like, rubbish and fag butts and stuff.

My oldest is at that age where he could just pick it up

and put it in his mouth. I just think that's just rude.

They wouldn't want their kids to do it, so it's not fair on mine.

So it's not just antisocial. It could affect your kids.

-They could be standing in it, playing with it.

-It's disgusting.

-Jane and Martin, where are you from?

-We're from Hampshire.

-What are you doing in London today?

-Having a little adventure out.

Jane, I'll start with you. Tell me about any antisocial behaviour

-that drives you up the wall.

-Nicking copper

from, um, telephone lines, when your internet suddenly goes down.

That's been a problem around us.

That's not just copper. That's all precious metals now.

We've had TV stations going - hospitals as well.

People steal any sort of metal. That's a big problem.

That's unbelievable, that that's happening,

-so that's been a local problem.

-Good answers! Thank you.

-Enjoy yourselves in London.

-Nice to meet you, Dominic.

-You, too.

We've all been out on a Friday and Saturday night in a town centre.

Large groups of people out enjoying themself

after a long, hard week at work. But it only takes one individual

to get a bit lairy after having a skinful,

and things soon spiral out of control

and ruin everyone's night.

On those nights, plenty of people get a bit worse for wear,

and their behaviour leaves a lot to be desired.

ALL CHEER AND SHOUT

And when there's the inevitable sickness and scuffles,

it takes up the valuable resources of the emergency services

and stops them from dealing with people

who really need their help.

HE SINGS

And that's where this lot come in -

the volunteers of the SOS Bus in Southend in Essex,

whose aim is simple - deal with the effects of antisocial behaviour

and keep their town centre safe and clean.

They're everyday folk who give up their time

to work late into the night on the street,

caring for people who've drunk too much or taken illegal drugs,

and then ensuring they'll make it home safely.

We've had people with long-term alcohol problems come on,

underage kids who've drank too much come on.

We've had people come on trying to hurt themselves,

somebody who's hurt somebody else...

-BOYS SHOUT

-Absolutely anything.

ALL SHOUT

And it's not just about caring for people.

It's practical things as well, like picking up glass bottles

left lying around - not only to keep the streets clean, of course,

but to remove things that could be used as a weapon

later in the night.

Charlotte's just 21 herself,

and one of younger members of the team.

While she's out patrolling the streets,

back at the bus is the oldest volunteer, 80-year-old Beryl.

I do every Saturday night, from nine o'clock to three in the morning.

I find that the bus is needed very much

for the youngsters that get too drunk,

and I'm known now as the vomit queen,

because I usually can sober them up

so they can get them home safe and sound.

And we keep them on the bus until either their parents come for them,

or they're capable to have a taxi home.

Beryl's no killjoy. She's got five grandchildren herself

and knows how much young people enjoy going out on the town.

My grandchildren think that, um, I do more nightclubs than they do,

which is a bit upsetting.

SHE LAUGHS I love the youngsters,

and I'm happy to say the youngsters like me.

It's the end of the month, and everyone's just been paid,

so the town is heaving, and for a lot of people,

this is a pretty intimidating scene.

A 17-year-old girl has been found on the street,

and Charlotte, who's training to be a nurse,

and fellow volunteer Thomas can see she's taken something she shouldn't.

So, what was it that you took? Was it, like, a pill?

It was a little pill? OK.

What we're going to do, I think it's going to be best

if we give your mum a quick call and ask her to pick you up.

-My friend's picking me up.

-Your friend's picking you up?

-My mum knows.

-OK. No problem.

-Just sit back for us, yeah?

-Is this normal?

You're fine. Don't worry. Just breathe. You're all right.

-How old are you?

-She's 17.

-I'm nearly 18.

-You're nearly 18. OK. No problem.

-Is my jaw normal?

-It's absolutely fine.

-What have I taken?

We don't know what you've taken, darlin'.

If you take drugs, you need to watch what you drink,

because it can be really dangerous if you drink a lot of fluids

when you're on drugs. Take little sips of water.

-I ain't going to hospital.

-You're fine. Just sit back.

-It's all good.

-I ain't going to the hospital.

That's fine. Don't worry about it.

Just chill out and we'll sort everything out.

-Your mum's going to pick you up from there, as well.

-No!

You're only 17. We got to take you up there.

I need to go home and go to sleep.

Most of the volunteers are parents or really young,

and it's a good mixture, as well, because it's all ages,

and the young ones get on better with the really young.

When they get an 18, 19 year old, they'll listen to them

a little bit more than, say, they'd listen to me.

-I'm Charlotte, all right?

-OK.

All right. Come on, darlin'.

Thank you so much for bringing her on.

We'll get you in the back. Keep her calm.

-Just sit down.

-Am I going to die?

-No, sweetie.

-I don't want to die!

Oh, it's all right. Just take some deep breaths.

-GIRL SOBS AND MUTTERS

-I'll look after your eyelashes.

Why don't you put them in your pocket?

Listen, you need to guard my eyelashes with your life.

-I will guard them with my life.

-Her eyelashes?

-I will give these to the lady Beryl.

-Thank you.

Beryl steps in to provide assistance.

It may seem odd, but making sure someone's eyelashes are kept safe

is a perfectly normal part of a night on the SOS Bus.

She'd like to collect them later on,

so I'm quite happy to look after them,

stick them in an envelope and hope I don't lose them.

And don't let us catch you wearing them, Beryl!

While Charlotte takes the teenager to hospital,

two of the other first aiders, Tom and Sally, are responding to a call

from Southend's CCTV control centre.

We're going up the high street because there's a drunken male

who's in need of assistance,

so instead of them sending out police officers to go to see to him,

we're going to assess him, see what help he needs,

and hopefully get help for him.

The team's work is amazing.

By dealing with the low-level problems,

they allow the emergency services

to concentrate on much more serious cases.

When they find the man, Tom and Sally can see

he's been in a fight. He's hurt his hand,

and he has a bloody eye.

THEY SPEAK UNDER NOISY MUSIC FROM CLUB

Do you want to walk, or do you want to come over to the car?

-I don't want to go in the car.

-No? OK.

-I can't see.

-That's what we're worried about,

because if you can't see out of that eye,

and someone sees you walking along and you're a bit the worse for wear, they might start to pick on you.

Once they get the man on the bus, they patch up his hand

and decide to drive him to the hospital

to get his eye checked out by the doctors.

Meanwhile, Charlotte's back from her trip with the 17-year-old girl.

It was nice, actually. It was a really successful one,

one of the bits that really makes the volunteering worthwhile.

She said, "Oh, Charlotte, will you come to hospital with me?"

"I really trust you." It just sort of reinforces that,

actually, I really love doing this. It's really nice.

Charlotte and the rest of the team have had a good night.

They've looked after people, saved the valuable resources

of the emergency services,

and helped keep antisocial behaviour in check

for all the residents of Southend.

Antisocial behaviour is about a lack of human decency

and disrespect for people around you.

If someone's way of life is making yours a misery,

that's about as antisocial as it gets.

But lucky enough for you and me, there are plenty of people out there

that we can turn to.

And this series is their chance to shine.

We're on the front line with the highly skilled teams

of council workers, police officers and local volunteers

who are committed to keeping our streets safe and clean

and taking on our antisocial battles on a daily basis

to make sure that our lives are not blighted

by other people's bad behaviour.

This is Street Patrol UK.

Oh, dear!

Westminster's wardens have got their work cut out

to keep the city streets clean and free from antisocial behaviour,

including begging, and the blight on residents and businesses alike

of some Romanian travellers who've chosen to set up camp

in one of the most exclusive parts of town,

and the one everybody wants to own on the Monopoly board, Park Lane.

This is the central reservation of Park Lane.

This has no access to the public.

It's just a green area with monuments,

so people can see it as they go up and down Park Lane.

Recently the Roma travellers, they've been camping out here,

and just using the site as a place to sleep.

I mean, not everyone can say they, um...they live in Park Lane.

You're spot-on there, Ravi. Despite the uphill struggle

the 20 local Westminster wardens face every day,

they find a way to hang on to their passion.

I love my job.

I think trying to keep the area clean and safe for the residents

and for the public is satisfying.

Nobody wants to live in an area full of nuisances.

But it seems some of the local businesses have had enough.

In my time here, they make it dirty as well.

Every morning my staff complain.

They're fed up of cleaning, you know?

They're making it very dirty.

I don't want to be saying we're washing every morning.

Last two, three years, all of a sudden you see so many of them,

sleeping rough, begging all the time...

In fact it affects our business, as well.

Sometimes we have to start our days off by clearing away the rubbish

that's left behind. If we've got clients coming,

I can't wait for Westminster council to come and clear up.

For the wardens, clearing up other people's mess

is not always as straightforward as it seems.

They use this area as a toilet, so they urinate and defecate.

So just a big mess. It does smell a bit round here.

We need to get specialist cleansing done.

That's going to cost us about £1,000,

just to get this small area here clean,

get rid of all the mess,

the urination, the defecation, the abandoned waste.

And what we will then do is get this area boarded up

so that they can't get back in there and do it all over again.

But, um, unfortunately it takes a bit of time.

As we all know, without the swift action of the wardens,

mess like this quickly attracts all sorts of visitors,

including those most unwelcome of city pests, rats.

Not a sight the residents of this smart part of town

should expect to see over their morning cuppa,

and none of us wants to live with a dumping ground on our doorstep.

I know I don't.

Just when warden Ravi thought there were no more hotspots to uncover...

Luckily there's no defecation here or urination.

There's just litter - clothes, socks...

scarves hanging round,

so this should just be a simple litter-picking operation here.

I suspect it's because it's an open area,

so they probably don't want to do their business round here.

That's what they've been using the other area to do.

While Ravi considers the best way to restore Park Lane

to its rubbish-free glory, below ground, warden Brian...

HE SINGS

..and his colleagues are on one of their regular rounds,

making sure that the underpass

that links one side of Park Lane to the other

is clear of the makeshift encampments that crop up

on a regular basis.

Oh, wow!

The rough sleepers... Obviously it's dry in here. It's clean.

Westminster's a pretty safe place, all in all, to live,

and this is where they want to make home.

Anybody who wants to live anywhere

will make it as comfortable as they can for theirselves,

hence dragging down mattresses, cardboard,

and we try to educate the businesses to break down the cardboard

and stop it being used that way, but it's a long process

and there's a lot of businesses, so we have to clear up the aftermath.

The latest official figures show that, on just one night

across Britain's towns and cities,

over 2,000 people are sleeping rough.

And annually in London,

there are over 5,500 rough sleepers.

We clear it, they come back almost within days,

and they reinhabitate it.

So we're doing our best to clear it so that we can inconvenience those

that are sort of causing antisocial behaviour

for the people that are walking through these subways.

A lot of our staff, after the office is shut,

will walk through the underpass to go home.

They've felt intimidated when there's a whole group of them down there,

and they don't deserve to feel intimidated like that.

I tell you what - I wouldn't like to have to walk through all that lot

just to get across the road.

Moving the travellers and rough sleepers along may seem tough,

but we all pay our taxes so councils can keep the streets clean and safe,

and that means clearing up the mess

that travellers and rough sleepers leave behind,

and pointing them in the direction of places

where they can get a proper bed for the night.

-Don't think there's needles.

-No. There could be excrement.

I don't think they'll walk too far to go to the toilet.

The issue here isn't so much about needles and whatnot.

It's about hygiene. Some of the waste issues we have to deal with,

there are bags that could contain needles, sharps

and that sort of stuff, so we have protective gloves that we wear.

It's just purely to keep our hands away from glass

and maybe other unmentionables that may be in there.

The clearing of the underpass is an all-too-regular task

for the Westminster team,

but they're determined to keep on top of this vital job,

and take great pride in leaving the walkway spick and span

and ready for the thousands of pedestrians and tourists

who pass through every day. And after all their efforts,

for now at least, Park Lane is pristine once more.

Good job, fellas!

Because I'm on the street pretty much every day,

outside of doing the odd bit of paperwork,

if I walk past something one day, I call it in. I'll fix it.

The next day it's not there. It's a very fulfilling role.

There are times when it gets frustrating.

I take it personally when stuff isn't done yesterday,

but we always get there in the end.

In 2011,

the theft of lead from church roofs in the UK

had reached almost epidemic proportions,

with almost 1,200 churches being robbed of their precious metal.

It's disgusting, and I think the damage done to the buildings

really of great importance, absolutely...

Well, it's...it's... it's terrible, really.

They're expensive to keep them going,

without people stealing from roofs and the like.

It's pretty shocking. It says a lot about times today.

Churches in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire

were so badly hit by this antisocial pillaging

that a special task force was set up to tackle these greedy thieves

who became increasingly bold.

These weren't thefts that happened at night.

They happened during the day.

One or two people said, "Yes, we saw some people on your roof!"

"We thought you were having some repairs done."

The church was actually having its roof stolen,

and no-one did anything about it,

because they thought it was legitimate.

That's the brazenness of the crime.

But the police did take this very seriously,

and there was a considerable effort went into this.

I think that's part of the throwback,

that so many churches in Lincolnshire were being targeted

at the time.

Lincolnshire Police's investigation

quickly discovered a number of suspects living in Lincoln,

and also uncovered a scrapyard where they were taking the stolen lead.

Now, at that time, scrapyards were able to buy metal for cash,

without having to record the ownership of the metal

or where it came from.

It was clear to me that there was a potential organised-crime group

involved in this type of offence.

My proactive team were sent to do some observations,

both on the houses where the people lived,

and also the scrapyard,

and en route, on day one of that proactive work taking place,

they came across two vehicles linked to these offenders.

Could this be just the lucky early break the police needed

to crack the case?

There was units that were driving down the A1,

and they recognised some vehicles that were driving.

There was a Peugeot and a Seat Alhambra,

and the Seat was towing a trailer,

which was obviously covered by a blue tarpaulin,

but the officers that saw it recognised the number plates

and the vehicles, and obviously, as a result,

the stop-check was carried out,

and this was the lead that was found to be in the trailer.

There's just under three tons' worth there.

That amounts to an entire church roof's worth of lead.

In the Peugeot were two brothers,

and in the Seat Alhambra were four other chaps,

all associates of the brothers.

And as a result, they were arrested

and taken to Lincoln police station.

Well spotted, and a well earned stroke of luck

for the eagle-eyed officers.

But that was just the start of an extensive investigation.

Whilst they were in custody,

various searches were done of the premises

that were linked to them,

and found on the driveway was a Chrysler Voyager

which had its rear seats removed,

and inside the Chrysler was, again, a quantity of lead.

There would be about half a ton's worth in that car.

As the evidence mounted up,

it became clear that the gang had systematically stolen

from churches across the counties,

and it seems there was nowhere to hide

when the gang was caught on camera at the unwitting scrapyard

that forked out nearly 70 grand in total in good faith

for the 70 tons of stolen lead.

This chap here is Tadas Andruska,

and he's arrived with a quantity of lead.

Once the weight is given, he will then go to the office

and collect payment for it. Throughout the investigation,

it was established there was 119 separate transactions

with one scrapyard alone.

After they were remanded into custody,

overnight the theft of lead from churches in Lincolnshire,

um, almost stopped immediately.

The police investigation was finally able to link the gang

to lead thefts from 22 churches,

causing up to £1 million in damages.

The case went to court, and after a five-day trial,

the gang, who were from Lithuania, were finally convicted.

In total, the gang received prison sentences of over 20 years.

After serving their sentences,

the gang could also be deported.

From what I've been told,

this is one of the biggest success stories for heritage crime

across the country, and I hope the success we've had in Lincolnshire

gives our colleagues across the country a hope

that we can get similar results,

and really drive the message home

that we're not going to stand for it and we're going to take it seriously.

Although they're in prison,

it doesn't put the roof back on for us

or do much help to the expenses we've had.

Lincolnshire Police, now, I can't praise them enough,

because they kept in touch all the way through,

they cared, they were efficient...

They got a result.

Since we filmed with our antisocial saviours,

we've got some updates.

In Southend's SOS bus,

volunteer Charlotte is pursuing her nurse's training

while still giving up her free time

to lend a hand to the worse-for-wear weekend revellers.

It's been quite successful. We've kept everybody nice and safe,

so I feel like we've done a really good job.

In the case of the long-running dispute

between two neighbours in Gloucester,

to Ismail's dismay, one of the women failed to turn up

for the mediation session, so the dispute continues.

That's your lot for today. See you next time.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]

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