Customers are scared to walk down the street to reach Nicola Battista’s 50-year-old hair salon in Gresham.

Ms Battista, who runs Guido’s on Princes Road, has spoken out at a council hearing where convenience store Lifestyle Express was banned from selling booze after it disregarded licensing legislation. The shop was selling cans of high-strength beer, lager and cider for as little as 99p.

The salon owner told of the chaos in the area with street drinkers urinating on people’s homes and her business, fighting, swearing in the street and hassling her customers for cash. Her dad Guido, who opened the salon in 1973, has been left heartbroken by the situation.

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Concerns were first raised about the Gresham store in 2019 and Cleveland Police’s PC Andrew Thorpe said he had several meetings with the licensee Abuzar Naveed at that time. An action plan was created and improvements were noted in January 2020.

However, the store was hit by lockdowns and restrictions during the covid pandemic. Once the business fully reopened it was sublet to Zafar Iqbal in April 2021 while Mr Naveed was out of the country. But, the name on the premises licence was never changed and councillors heard that Mr Iqbal had little knowledge about licensing legislation.

Incidents started to increase again and Ms Battista feels like her business has been impacted. She said: “We have had the salon for 50 years and we haven’t had as much trouble as what we have had of late.

“The customers that are going to this shop [Lifestyle Express], who are drunk or getting drunk, are urinating, swearing in the street, and approaching our clients to beg. My clients come from all over Teesside, they feel intimidated and are asking what is getting done.”

The hair salon on Princes Road was set up by Ms Battista’s dad Guido after he arrived in the UK in the early 1950s from Italy. His first salon opened on Russell Street before he welcomed customers to Princes Road in 1973.

Ms Battista said the current situation was really embarrassing for the area and customers kept asking what was being done. She was also having to leave clients so she could go and phone the police.

The salon owner added: “Their behaviour gets worse as the day goes on, so we are there until half past five, at that time the behaviour is awful. In the afternoon, I am ringing Cleveland Police often.

“We can’t cope with it. My dad has been there for 50 years and my mum and dad are heartbroken when they look out the window. I am sure it’s impacting the business massively but it is hard to tell because of covid. It’s very embarrassing trying to get new customers coming through that street.”

In written evidence, the salon owner said that people were exposing themselves after urinating, standing in the middle of the traffic and collapsing in the street. Before adding: “[Clients] are scared to park their car too far from the salon as they are scared to walk down the street. We have children, senior citizens, clients with special needs and disabilities and they don’t feel safe.”

Public health representative Fiona Helyer who also gave evidence at the hearing revealed that she was a regular customer at Guido’s and could corroborate Ms Battista’s experiences. She added: “On a Saturday morning at 9 o’clock in the morning you have a big gang of street drinkers sat on the floor outside of the hairdressers, they’re drinking, fighting, shouting.

“Even some of the street drinkers walk into the salon and try to use the seating area to sit down and rest, that’s what they have had to put up with, probably on a daily basis.”

Mr Iqbal’s wife Parveen Iqbal was in attendance at the committee. She had hoped to be able to change the premises licence to her name.

Mrs Iqbal said: “I can only apologise. Whatever the outcome is after today I am hoping we can work together to get to a solution. No matter what we all should be working together as businesses.”

Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston said the committee had been left with no choice but to revoke the licence to protect the local community. Middlesbrough Council’s public protection head Judith Hedgley said: “In this case, poor management and a blatant disregard for licensing legislation and licence conditions have resulted in significant problems for local residents and other businesses.

“This revocation sends a clear message that any premises that fail to adhere to the licensing laws or who fail to operate in a responsible manner will not be tolerated.”

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