Episode 3 Street Patrol UK

Our lives are blighted by antisocial behaviour,

whether it's nuisance neighbours,

graffiti on the streets or too much booze.

-All right, mate, yeah. Right.

-MAN SHOUTS

What I suggest you do is make your way away from here right now.

-Do you understand me?

-Yeah, I understand.

This is the story of the police officers,

council wardens and local volunteers

whose job it is to keep it off our streets.

Let's go do some good.

In my mind, this is antisocial behaviour,

because it affects everybody.

Welcome to Street Patrol UK.

Today, the parking team dealing with

fraudulent use of disabled parking badges,

and a suspected offender who doesn't want to be filmed.

SIREN WAILS

Gloucester Police taking inspiration from football

and handing out yellow cards to take back control of their city centre.

And it seems not even our churches are safe

when it comes to metal theft.

As a precious historical object,

it's absolutely unique. You can't replace it.

The blue badge parking scheme is a lifeline for disabled people,

giving them access to shops and services that they might need.

But when a thief either steals that badge

or a fraudster abuses the scheme, it's antisocial behaviour

that can have a serious knock-on effect to genuine badge holders.

And here's one city whose parking team

are determined to put a stop to it.

Portsmouth Council's parking team

takes blue badge fraud very seriously.

They're on a special operation to catch the fraudsters

and clamp down on anyone found to be abusing the scheme.

It's 7am and Parking Manager Michael Robinson is already

on his way to a stakeout

for someone he suspects of being a repeat offender.

There's a lady who we've been keeping an eye on

who works in one of the

major retailers in the city centre.

She always, when she's working,

parks using a blue badge to which she is not entitled.

If she has parked in the disabled bay using a blue badge today,

they'll confront her and decide if she's committed an offence.

If so, her car will be towed away,

and as well as the cost of releasing the vehicle from the lock-up,

she can be fined up to £1,000.

I'm just going to park up somewhere discreet...

..and keep an eye out and see if her car arrives.

There's no sign of the suspect today.

Michael knows she doesn't work full-time,

but her company won't disclose her working hours.

He's not giving up easily.

Well, the person we're looking for only works part-time,

and clearly today is not a day she works

but maybe tomorrow, maybe next week...

We'll find her and she'll pay.

Over two million people in England and Wales have a blue badge,

but not all of those are used by disabled people.

The number of prosecutions for fraudulently using a blue badge

has doubled in three years,

and in 2013, there were 686 prosecutions in England and Wales.

Helen Dolphin from Disabled Motoring UK

has joined the team today to offer visible support

to the Blue Badge scheme.

She's appalled by the scale of the problem.

It is a completely antisocial crime.

It seems like everyone's doing it, and I find that, actually,

really terribly sad,

because I would do anything not to have a blue badge.

In 1997, Helen lost four limbs when she suffered from meningitis.

I don't want a blue badge.

All I want to be able to do is walk, get on my bicycle,

jump on the bus like I used to do before I was disabled.

Unfortunately, I can't do that any more,

and that's why I have a blue badge.

For the blue badge users of Portsmouth,

it can be a nightmare

when people fraudulently park in the disabled bays.

So I got a wheelchair in my car,

which helps my son get me to where I need to get to,

and obviously people parking where they shouldn't be

is taking the space up for someone else that needs it urgently.

It's not there to be used illegally, is it?

It's there to help people.

There's an awful lot of people who are using the boxes

and really, they shouldn't be.

It is a good thing to see people checking up on it.

In fact, I'm delighted to see them doing it,

because there is just not enough boxes to go around

for genuinely disabled people.

I think it's utterly wrong. It is utterly wrong.

I mean, if you're entitled to it, you're entitled to it.

I can park like this no trouble.

If it was the other way round,

it would mean quite a lot of aggravation.

Suddenly Michael receives a tip-off call

from the Parking Enforcement investigation team.

We've got a report of a badge being used near the city centre

and we know that the badgeholder is at home in bed. Asleep.

It's ironic that it's outside

the building that used to issue the blue badges.

As well as CCTV cameras all across Portsmouth,

the enforcement team also relies on informants across the city

to help keep a watch on the illegal use of blue badges.

At the scene, Steve Hewitt,

the council's parking investigation officer,

explains to Michael that a call to the blue badge holder

has revealed that she's at home, not out and about.

The officer's done a security check on the disabled badge

displayed in the Audi.

The security check called the badge holder

and the badge holder is currently at home in bed asleep,

and a penalty has obviously been issued for the misuse of that badge.

They wait for half an hour, but the rules state that

if nobody has returned to the car by then, it gets towed away.

Just after the car is removed, the owner appears.

-Hello, sir.

-Hi there.

The owner can't understand why his car has been towed.

He claims that he parked to take his disabled mother -

the badge holder - to the doctor's.

Is this normal, to just tow a car away?

Just bear with me a moment, sir.

Before I say any further questions,

I have reason to believe that an offence may have occurred.

-I must caution you.

-OK.

You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence

if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court.

-Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

-OK.

-Do you understand this caution, sir?

-Yes, I do.

So, do you understand, really,

so if I ask you a question, you're expected to tell me the truth?

-OK.

-OK? Where was the badge holder?

In the doctor's surgery.

They head to the surgery, from where the man's mother does indeed emerge.

The team are keen to check out her story.

-Have you been seen this afternoon? Have you had your appointment?

-Yes.

So you've seen the doctor today? OK.

And they want the surgery to confirm it.

They're saying that I didn't drop Mum off. Oh, well.

HE LAUGHS

Because of data protection,

the surgery can't tell Michael and Steve what they need to know.

So the pair ask the driver to attend a meeting the next day,

while they continue with their investigation.

It's been an eye-opening day for Helen.

I think whenever you've got a system

which means that people can cheat the system,

they can avoid paying parking fees, then people are going to do it,

but it's not just cheating the council out of few pennies,

it's cheating the whole of society. It's stopping disabled people

from being able to get on with their lives.

Being disabled is tiring, it's exhausting, it's painful,

and, you know, to have that bay to park in is not a perk.

It's not a luxury.

But it's just that thing that makes life that little bit easier

and so it is really, really vital

that councils stop that antisocial behaviour

and that will only be done by proper enforcement.

Back at the council the next day,

the man who claims that he used a disabled parking bay

to drop off his mum off at the doctor's has decided to come clean.

He immediately confessed that, in fact, it was as we suspected -

he was using his mother's badge for his own purposes.

He then phoned home and had his poor old mother

dragged out of her bed, bundled into a taxi and brought in,

just as a way to try to continue the deception,

but he has seen sense, thankfully quite early,

and admitted to the truth now.

However, there is still an offence, so he is still under caution

for that offence and that will be dealt with accordingly.

The man was given a formal warning and a penalty charge notice.

Later, Michael and Steve are called to deal with

a very unhappy alleged blue badge fraudster.

I'm from the council. I can explain what's happening.

I can't release the car...

You've got my car, right? I'm ordering you to release my car.

There's a possible criminal matter we need to discuss with you as well.

Are you anything to do with them?

-No.

-BLEEP

-off, then.

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

to find out what bothers you about antisocial behaviour in the UK.

Is there anything that really bugs you ladies

about antisocial behaviour on the streets?

Wolf whistling.

Wolf whistling! I've never heard that one!

Seriously, never heard that one before. But OK.

Years ago, it used to happen, but of course, builders now,

they're not legally allowed to wolf whistle any more, are they?

-Really?

-No!

-Well, they still do it.

It's probably a very hard thing to police, but they're not allowed to.

Winds you up?

I don't like it when men say "smile" to a girl on the street.

That's sort of similar to wolf whistling.

-"Smile, love."

-Actually, do you know what, yeah.

I've had comments like that before, and it's just aggravating, isn't it?

Annoying? If you want to walk along with a sour face,

-or just thinking about something, it's up to you, isn't it?

-Yep.

-Yeah.

I thought I'd stop you and ask you,

because you've got a disabled carriage here,

so how do you find getting around in that?

You try getting on a tram on this. It's murder.

They don't want to wait for you. There's no politeness any more.

Right, so you feel very uncomfortable

being on this in public?

In public, yeah, especially on my own.

I'm on my own, because I'm on here, anyone can grab me or grab my bag.

Do you see some things which are quite serious?

You see, like, games and you know there is going to be a punch-up

or something like that.

You just see it, you sense it, and you get out quick.

Now, by your accents, you're obviously not local.

-Where are you from?

-America, Boston.

Have you ladies witnessed anything in our great city here

which you thought was antisocial?

A lot of drinking, everywhere.

Oh, yeah! We are well known for that worldwide, aren't we?

Yeah, you seem to like it.

OK. Now, do you think it's antisocial?

I guess it depends on how much you are drinking and what your state is.

Yeah, I think you've hit the nail on the head there,

because a lot of countries, people have a glass of wine

with their lunch, or their evening meal,

-whatever, fine.

-That's fine, yeah.

But we tend to have a culture where we drink a lot.

But you notice it a lot more than your own country?

-Yeah, a lot more.

-Like, in public, a lot.

-OK.

Britain's heritage belongs to all of us,

and it's something most of us treat with pride and respect.

So it always comes as a shock

when the actions of unsociable louts spoil it for the rest of us.

And when one of our ancient churches is targeted by metal thieves

just trying to earn a quick buck or two,

it does make you wonder - is anything sacred any more?

East Peckham in Kent is as far away from its London namesake

as possible. Certainly no Del Boys here ducking and diving.

East Peckham's a fairly tight-knit community.

Very friendly.

We've been here 40 years, and I wouldn't move.

However, this sleepy village has been touched by crime.

Last year, a church at the heart of the community was burgled.

Though no longer used for worship,

St Michael's is one of 345 churches across the country

looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust.

They aim to keep our ancient places of worship open for communities

and protect them from all kinds of antisocial behaviour.

But there's one kind which they're sadly seeing far too often.

One of the greatest threats to churches today is metal theft,

because metal was used widely.

On roofs, in monuments and in general fittings -

cast iron gratings on the floor, for instance -

and churches are often seen as an easy target.

And amongst the 12,000 visitors who came to St Michael's last year

was someone who decided to take part of the church's history with them.

And in the floor of this church were two memorial brasses

dating from the 15th century.

They were, in effect, the gravestones of people who used this church

500 years ago, and as such, they're of great importance

to the community, because they are real links with the past.

This is where the brasses were in the floor of the church,

set into a big stone slab,

and that slab would have been hollowed out, filled with pitch

and then the metal would have been pushed down on to the stone backing.

And so it is actually quite easy for somebody

to get something underneath and to pull them up and take them away.

But if the thieves thought these plaques were valuable,

they were wrong.

I think somebody took them so they could be melted down,

but of course, what they probably didn't realise

is they're not pure metal.

It's an alloy of very little value indeed.

The plaques may have had little monetary value,

but to the local villagers and those who loved the church,

they are priceless.

Why do it? I don't understand it.

There's just no respect any more.

We seem to get quite a lot of that these days, round about.

Anything that's left around that people can get their hands on,

they take.

I think it is a sign of the times. It's not quite the same.

I think we were shocked when we heard that the brasses had gone,

because they were the oldest feature to be seen in the church

and they were very decorative as well.

Lots of visitors came just to see the brasses.

As a precious historical object, it's absolutely unique.

You can't replace it.

Local historian Phillip Lawrence has dedicated himself to

documenting these unique historical artefacts through brass rubbing.

I've been all over England literally rubbing brasses.

I've got a very big collection of them,

which I have had put on slides

that I've used for lectures and so forth.

14th, 15th, 16th, 17th century, and some of them are civilians,

some of them are priests, some of them are men in armour.

And it's through Philip's work

that at least some trace of the stolen plaques remain.

His brass rubbings are all that is left of them.

These are of special interest to me,

because they represent people who were once local people.

They date from about 1520.

Notice the lady's gable headdress.

She's got an interesting girdle here with long tassels attached.

The man is in the dress of the period

with fur-trimmed cuffs and edges to his gown.

They're both shown in an attitude of prayer.

We're not absolutely certain who they represented.

There were two or three possibilities of local yeoman farmers.

It's not of highest artistic quality, but it is ours.

It's part of our heritage.

Phillip is desperately hoping that whoever took the medieval plaques

has taken them to keep rather than melting them down.

I wonder if someone thought it would...

They could sell it abroad as some sort of ornament.

Because they are quite attractive.

Although we have publicised the loss of this one several times,

we've no clue as yet to where it's gone or why it was taken.

But it's not a loss that he can easily forget.

I was disgusted.

And there was a definite sense of considerable resentment

of the church being robbed in that way,

of something being taken that people have appreciated for centuries

and won't be able to any more.

There are a lot of older people

that have lived here for a long time as well,

and I think it has quite a detrimental effect on them.

It's an heirloom for those that live in the village

and for those that will live here in the future.

One local resident is so keen to see the brasses returned

that he's decided to offer a large reward.

Well, I had a customer come in the shop

and they told me all about it.

I couldn't believe it at first, because knowing the value of it

is to the community and to the church as part of its history,

I couldn't believe that anyone would have broken in and stole it.

Well, I offered £1,000 with the hope that it will be replaced.

So far, no-one has come forward

to claim the money or return the plaques.

We wanted to know whether it was melted down

or given away to scrap. Then we know it's gone.

Or if it's been sold or gone on somewhere,

there is hope we can get it back, and the reward will still be there,

but it will be nice to get it back, rather than not.

For a few quid's worth of metal,

these selfish thieves have denied a lot of people

a little bit of heritage and a great deal of pleasure.

Hundreds of people a year go into that church,

which is not used any longer.

But people go there and meditate or pray.

We want to keep churches open,

but that leaves us open to the possibility

of things being stolen or damaged.

And Phillip has a final plea for whoever may have stolen them.

If the thief had some conscience, they could bring it along

and just leave it in the church.

That's what I'd say to them.

It's a sad fact of life that many town centres

become hot spots for antisocial behaviour,

particularly on a Saturday night.

And trying to deal with people who've already had a skinful

can take its toll on police, the council,

and those who've got to clean up the mess.

But one town has come up with an innovative scheme

where not only the police and council can take action,

but also pubs, clubs, restaurants and even taxi drivers,

because they can issue the culprit with a yellow card.

Gloucester, like many cities across the UK,

has had its fair share of mayhem

and disorderly behaviour on an average weekend night.

In our last series, we were on a busy night shift

with PC Mark Mansfield from Gloucestershire Police,

whose job it is to keep revellers on the straight and narrow.

From dealing with aggro in the street...

BLEEP

..to stopping people using the road as a toilet.

Oh, my God, Richard! Don't do it!

Clearly he's going to urinate in public,

so we'll make sure that we sort this guy out.

How many has he drunk tonight?

-Quite a lot.

-Has he?

About double what I've had.

No, I am fine. I was like,

"Dude, that's a police officer right there!"

You've got a good mate there. You should listen to him.

I needed the toilet...

Curiously, this is a job Mark loves.

Yeah, it is fantastic. We love it. It is challenging,

you never know where you're going to go to.

Every job is different,

every character is different that you deal with,

and I think it's a really rewarding job.

Most police officers will tell you

they get a lot of job satisfaction out of the job,

so it's really good.

But there's often a dark side to the merriment

Mark and his colleagues manage on a boozy night on the town.

This man has had a skinful, and has already taken a swing at a bouncer.

The police are on the scene very quickly.

He's had a section 27 order,

which is essentially an order to leave the city centre

for the next 24 hours.

It moves people that have caused us problems out of the city

and if they come back they are in breach of that,

and we'd arrest them and they'd spend a night in the cells.

Breakfast out of a cardboard box.

A section 27 notice allows the police to deal with

low-level antisocial behaviour

by issuing a short-term ban on a specified area.

But it all puts a huge strain on police resources

and is ineffective in actually getting to the root of the problem.

Offenders come back and cause trouble again in the same areas,

and now local shops and businesses in Gloucester have had enough.

So, a year on, Gloucestershire Police,

through the City Safe scheme, has teamed up with

more than 60 local businesses to ban persistent trouble-makers

from entering shops, bars and restaurants in the city centre.

And they've got high hopes for their new initiative.

This is the yellow card scheme.

The way that that works, ladies and gents,

is that one yellow card means a warning.

If a person gets two yellow cards, potentially that is an exclusion,

and that is an exclusion from all the members' premises.

So, it's just like football.

But this yellow card names and shames too.

Behave badly and your mug shot goes on a central database

visible to all the local business members.

There's nowhere to hide!

I think it's a brilliant idea.

My guys have got a good relationship around the town anyway

with the police, and this will just help even more so.

We do get our fair share of passengers that choose not to pay.

This is where the Gloucester City Safe scheme

and the yellow card scheme will really come into play for us,

because hopefully it will act as a deterrent

and hopefully make a big difference.

Businesses hope the new initiative will be a more proactive,

"in-your-face" way of dealing with antisocial behaviour.

The guys on the ground are supported by the CCTV control room operators.

Bravo Charlie. Have we got any PCSOs around?

They are the city centre's eyes and ears around the clock.

It's safety for the public, but it's also safety for the police as well.

So, we just keep an eye on different people

and just make sure everything's all in order.

They see everything the CCTV cameras see.

I think we're unshockable at the moment.

I think we've seen just about everything.

That is something that you have come to expect now.

And they have already noticed a difference.

Since the City Safe started and they started this card system,

it is working. I know there's been several instances now

where the cards have been given out.

Because of the library of offenders, we have got them

on the website for the City Safe, so we all know who they are.

So we can pick them up day or night. We're trying to get zero tolerance.

If it's done with the red and yellow card, then so be it.

Back down on the streets of Gloucester,

PC Mark Mansfield is armed with his yellow cards

to deal with the weekend party crowd.

As police officers, we've been looking at fighting within

a licensed premises, we'd be on about disorder in a main street,

we've been on about shoplifting as well.

Any form of antisocial behaviour

that is deemed antisocial to the public,

then we are going to look to issue yellow cards.

There's no compromise. Two strikes and you're out.

If they receive two yellow cards,

then they're banned from the city centre for a year

and that includes all shops, pubs, clubs,

anywhere within the city centre that operates.

Yeah, yeah. On your way, mate, all right.

All right. Welcome to Gloucester.

Off you go, then.

He is going to get a yellow card in a minute.

HE CHUCKLES

A little later, it looks like a foul has been committed.

Yeah, basically, the gentleman was refused admission

due to the intoxicated state that he was in at the time.

He then refused to actually walk away,

decided to chuck a bottle of water at one of our staff

and then walked around to the front of one of our pubs

and decided to have a wee against one of our venues.

At that point, I actually radioed through to the street CCTV

to say that I want to issue a yellow card,

and to get the local boys in blue to come round and have a chat to him.

I've done nothing wrong.

Next thing you know, I've just got a yellow card.

He's been abusive to staff,

so they've kicked him out of the pub now.

We have given him a yellow card, and if he gets another one,

then he'll be banned for a year, so he needs to behave in the city.

What have you got in your hand? I'm afraid you're not allowed to drink alcohol

in the streets of Gloucester, so can you tip it away for me, please?

Mark's crime-busting partners, Acting Sergeant Miles Goodman

and PC Claire Thomson are also on the lookout for behaviour

that deserves the yellow card treatment.

Before you put it in the bin, tip it out.

-Pop it straight in for me.

-There we go.

Some behaviour calls for an immediate response.

-You've peed on the floor!

-No, I haven't.

Yes, you have. I just saw you.

I saw you urinate - have a wee - on the pavement. OK?

Yeah, I do.

What we're giving you is what is called a yellow card, OK?

Because you've been seen urinating in a side street, OK?

And this is a warning, this yellow card. All right?

If Gloucester City Safe receives two or more incidents,

so this is the first one,

of crime or disorder or antisocial behaviour involving you,

within a 12-month period,

-you may well be excluded from all those premises.

-Right.

Off you go, go on.

With the police, businesses and the council's backing,

it looks the new scheme is making its mark.

In the last three months,

they've issued 72 yellow cards and five red.

Now that's a result!

Later...

We're on the streets of Preston with Tommy and Michael

as they battle with the worst kind of trash.

Just picking up all the dirty needles,

what druggies have been on, as you can see.

I don't know what sort of drug they use.

Let's get back to what bothers you in Britain today.

What have you seen, what have you witnessed,

and you can compare this to Blackpool or Lancashire,

anywhere you are from, as you like...

What have you seen, antisocial, that you really don't like?

-Dog litter.

-OK - poop?

-Yeah.

-OK, OK, dog poop is quite a hard one.

A lot of people complain about that.

-Good one.

-We have got a dog, but we always pick it up.

OK. Well, that's good.

I mean, most decent people are now, aren't they?

We cannot stop dogs pooping, but we can pick it up

-and dispose of it correctly. What's the harm? OK.

-Exactly.

-But it annoys you when other people do it.

-Yes, and don't pick it up.

Spitting, I don't like spitting.

I don't like people throwing rubbish out of cars.

I tell you something else, people who smoke,

I don't like people smoking in their cars, and I don't like it

-when they throw their cigarette ends out of the car either.

-Yeah!

What gives you the right to throw a cigarette butt out a car?

I tell you what, we're off on a roll now, aren't we?

It has been a right pressure...

er, pleasure, pleasure!

Sorry, I meant pleasure. Lovely talking to you.

Thanks lovely, take care, see you.

-What's your name?

-Anthony.

What do you think about people using blue badges

who might not be entitled to use them?

Well, they should be hung, drawn and quartered.

Good Lord, that's a bit hard, isn't it?

Well, they should be hung, drawn and quartered, I repeat,

because that's not exactly what they are meant for.

The disabled in society should be looked after

and I believe that the government issue that to look after

the older people and infirm people and those with disabilities,

so anyone using that, well,

should be hung, drawn and quartered. Disable them properly now.

I don't think we're ever going to go that far,

-but certainly we'll give them a slap on the wrist, maybe.

-No, deal with them ruthlessly.

Oh, I tell you what, you're a hard man.

-You've got to be ruthless.

-You're a hard man. Thanks, Anthony.

-My pleasure.

-Oooh!

-Have a good afternoon, guys.

-Cheers, Ant, bye-bye. Bye.

Antisocial behaviour is all about a lack human decency

and disrespecting those people who live around you.

And if your way of life makes other people's a misery,

that's about as antisocial as it gets.

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

of council workers, police officers and 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.

Sadly, littering in the UK is a massive problem,

and whether you're a litter lout or not,

we are all dependent on the council workers

whose daily job it is to stop our streets from disappearing

under a tide of filth like this.

Many of them are dedicated to trouncing the trash,

and for some, like Tommy Loftus in Preston,

it turns out to be their dream job.

71-year-old cleaning supervisor Tommy's passion

for picking up litter knows no bounds.

I've been doing this for ten years and I enjoy every minute of it.

I think it's the best job I've ever had.

As an ex-serviceman with 22 years in the army,

Tommy likes things to be in its place and spick and span,

so the job is a perfect fit.

I like the job. I mean, it's out in the open,

plenty of fresh air, plenty of exercise,

and it costs me nothing. And I get paid!

I don't have to go to gyms to keep fit. I just do this job.

Tommy is part of a 50-strong council cleaning squad

working in Preston City.

And they collect 7,000 tonnes of litter annually

from the streets, pavements, back alleys and litter bins.

People just don't realise that when they drop litter

it costs them money to pick it up if they're a taxpayer.

My team go through about 30 of these bags a day,

just going round the city centre, just picking. 30.

If people actually thought about it,

the rubbish that's collected in Preston,

if we stopped picking litter up for a month,

you wouldn't be able to walk the streets of Preston.

You're not wrong there, Tommy. Litter louts across the UK drop

30 million tonnes of litter every year, costing us taxpayers

£885 million to keep our streets rubbish-free.

Not only is rubbish an eyesore - if no-one picks it up,

it can also attract vermin and become a health hazard.

And one kind of discarded litter can be very dangerous indeed...

..the needles from injecting drug users.

That is a live one, because it's got a needle in it,

and that's what you call a dead one, cos there's just a casing.

There's one spot we went to and we actually picked up

68 needles in one area. Just in a small area.

And in Preston, it's a problem that seems to be getting worse.

Tommy has recently gained an assistant on his daily rounds.

Volunteer Michael is helping out with no pay, just to learn the job.

Just picking up all the dirty needles,

what druggies have been on, as you can see.

I don't know what sort of drug they use.

The drug users of Preston just don't seem to care.

Another one.

As well as dropping their dangerous sharps,

local druggies have been upsetting residents

by injecting in front of them.

I saw them when they put the needle in the arm, you know?

I am sorry.

I am not saying because of me, but because of small baby,

-you know, it's kind of...

-Yeah.

This is an unofficial part of Tommy's job,

listening to residents' complaints about antisocial behaviour

and passing them on to the council.

Yeah, because it has really been a nightmare.

Because a lot of people, they come inside, they drink,

they scream, they fight.

Tommy will always help out wherever he can, going the extra mile.

Well, I promise you this - I'm not sure what day, one day this week -

I'll have a team here and we'll get it cleaned out

and we'll get a lock and chain put back on it.

Thank you very much. Have a nice day.

-All right.

-Thank you very much.

Tommy and 19-year-old Michael are now a regular team.

Tommy's showing him the ropes

with a view to passing the baton in a few years.

There we go, we found a knife.

To me, that's dangerous.

Cos if a kid gets hold of it, it could do serious damage.

Michael is one of those lads, you give him a job,

I know I can rely on him.

He'll go away and do it, he doesn't have to work with me.

I don't have to check on him, I know it gets done.

As a mentor, Tommy's made a big impression on Michael.

He's taught me everything about the job,

he's taught me health and safety.

He has taught me everything I need to know.

-Can I push it?

-No, I'll push it.

But it's going to be a little while yet

before Tommy lets him have control of that cart.

Older people shouldn't retire.

They should work on till they think they're ready to retire.

I've been here ten years now, I'm aged 71 and I think this job

has actually helped keep me alive, so to speak,

because I'm always on the go.

There's always something to look forward to when I come here.

Dropping litter is a thoughtless and antisocial thing to do

and, if caught, you could face fines rising as high as £2,500,

so that could become a very expensive bit of rubbish.

-Oh, sorry!

-Always a happy team.

We're back in Portsmouth, where the parking enforcement team

are on the trail of the fraudsters who are abusing

the blue badge disabled parking scheme.

Portsmouth council parking manager Michael Robinson has been

watching out for an alleged offender who has been

parking in a disabled space she is not entitled to use.

Yesterday, when Michael lay in wait,

he failed to catch her in the act as she was not at work.

But today the lady's car is parked in the disabled bay.

She is believed to be using her husband's badge.

This particular one was a tip off that we got

from a member of the public

who told us that this lady was parking regularly

and she works in a local shop,

so we are currently waiting for a tow truck and she will be challenged

about it and held to account for using the blue badge illegally.

Michael passionately believes

this misuse of badges does harm to others.

Genuinely disabled people will come down here,

hoping to park in a disabled bay that we have supplied

and they can't, because she selfishly is using the space

that isn't designed or meant for her.

He doesn't have time to wait around, but marks her car out with cones

while he attends to a tip-off around the corner.

It's another persistent offender whose car is seen regularly

parked outside a gym using a badge belonging to a member of his family.

So he's arrived at ten past eight this morning, a lone male driver...

Just give me a general description of what he was wearing.

Black shorts, white vest and a bag slung over his shoulder.

The intelligence we have been given is that he has probably

been in the gym for half an hour, three quarters of an hour,

and if the gentleman isn't back in that time period,

then we will seize and tow the vehicle away.

I do understand that this is quite a large guy,

who's been volatile

to a number of our civil enforcement officers previously.

So the police are called in, just in case there's any trouble.

But it seems the suspect isn't interested in stopping for a chat!

As he walks away, his car is towed.

In the meantime, the owner of the other car

that Michael coned off has returned.

My name's Steve. I work for Portsmouth City Council.

Can I just have a look at the disabled badge

-that you've displayed at the moment, please?

-It's not in my name.

-OK.

I didn't have a lot of money on me

and I thought I would just park there for today.

-OK.

-It was really stupid, wasn't it?

So you just didn't have enough change to use the NCP car park?

She has to surrender the badge there and then.

I just... I shouldn't have done it and that was it.

Hopefully, she'll think twice about doing it again.

Obviously, she's now going to have to go home and face the

embarrassment of telling her unwell husband that she's lost the badge.

Michael's next stop is the car pound,

where he's heard that the owner of the white Range Rover has turned up.

The suspect wants his car back, but it won't be released

until he's been questioned by the parking team

and filled in the necessary paperwork.

Have you come to get your car back?

But the suspect doesn't want to know what Michael has to say.

I would like the car, please.

-I can't release it, cos it's...

-I want to see the manager.

-I am the manager.

-Well, I'm here to take the car.

I'm from the council and can explain what's happening.

I can't release the car.

You've got my car. I'm ordering you to release my car.

Steve is on his way with the paperwork

and that would help the man, if only he'd listen.

-They're not allowed to.

-He's on his way with the forms now.

He'll be here in a couple of minutes.

As soon as he gets here, you can speak to him,

he'll sort it out, you take the vehicle.

But we can't just release it, because there's

a possible criminal matter we need to discuss with you as well.

-Have you got anything to do with them?

-No.

-BLEEP off, then.

-I'm trying to help you here.

-Course you are.

Things are getting really heated, and the suspect goes for the camera.

Steve has arrived. He needs the man to answer a few questions.

But he isn't interested in anything Steve has to say.

Hello, sir. Let me introduce myself first. I'm Mr...

-Don't put your arm round me, please, sir.

-I'm not going to. I am going to close this door.

I need to stay with him. I work with him.

Till you've got a warrant to keep my car,

I think you ought to release my car. At the moment...

Before I ask you anything further, there is a reason to believe

an offence has been committed under section 117 of the Road Traffic Act.

I'm going to do you the release on your car,

but before I ask you anything further or continue discussions,

I must caution you. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention

when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be used in evidence.

And with tensions mounting, the police are called in.

The officers bring everyone together to try and sort it out.

-Are you happy to surrender the badge to me as I have requested, sir?

-No.

I do have to advise you, I also have powers of seizure on the badge.

The badge belongs to Portsmouth City Council

and it is important that these matters are investigated...

My car belongs to me, and anything in my car,

you do not touch unless you've got a warrant.

OK. In which case, I must advise you that badge will be cancelled, OK?

But nothing is really resolved.

The man leaves without his car,

and despite Steve's protestations, takes the badge with him.

Please be advised, sir, if you don't surrender the badge,

it will, as I've advised you, be cancelled today.

He will have to actually then reapply for a replacement disabled badge

once this matter has been fully investigated

and taken to a conclusion.

As well as having the badge cancelled, the owner is still

under investigation for his blue badge misuse.

He later got his car back after paying the £105 removal fee.

Michael has stern words for anyone who thinks

this is a victimless crime.

If a genuinely disabled person turns up in a disabled bay

and there is someone else parking in it,

not because they are disabled, but because they are trying to

avoid the charges that every other motorist has to pay.

They're there to help people that are disabled,

they're there to help vulnerable people,

they are not a ticket to free parking,

and in Portsmouth, we won't have it.

Well, that's your lot for today. Thanks for watching.