'You have to be vigilant' say Nottingham shoppers after machete brandished in broad daylight

Nottingham shoppers have said they are becoming increasingly vigilant after a man was spotted running along a city centre street with a machete. People expressed concerns that more and more youths may be carrying knives after Nottinghamshire Police issued an appeal to find a man, who was part of a larger group.

The group was seen running up Hurts Yard, according to the police, and the machete was dropped on Upper Parliament Street before a man picked it up and fled. After police issued photos of four young men they wanted to trace following the incident, city residents and shoppers explained they were worried about a perceived rise in knives being carried on Nottingham's streets.

Terry Lowe, 73, from Basford, said: "I think you have to be more aware than ever nowadays. The police I think have a lot to do, but I am not sure they do all they can to stop this stuff happening, but I suppose what can they do other than chase them down.

"I think most of it is all to do with drugs, they carry these knives to protect themselves if something goes wrong or rob other people, but it does mean that normal people who are not involved have to be more vigilant. I try not to come into the city now when I don't have to, I just come to the pubs and then go back home to avoid any trouble."

Sarah Walker, 51, who lives just outside of Nottingham, agreed with Mr Lowe's sentiments. "We have to have our wits about us," she said.

"I think knife crime is getting worse and being normalised. When I see groups of young people I cross the road, which is sad, because even though they're probably just innocently walking you have to take precautions."

John Richards, 55, from Long Eaton, said he moved out of Basford in the early 2000s due to crime and felt the situation had not changed for the better or worse over the years. "I feel it is as safe as it has always been - but that's not saying a lot. Nottingham was pretty rough when I came here in 1992, and in the end I had to move out because of crime.

"I don't think Nottingham is more dangerous than other similar cities, but I feel a lot safer in Long Eaton."

Marcellus Baz, who founded charity Switch Up to move young people away from "the circle of crime and gang-criminality", had his own professional boxing career ended at the age of 23 when he was stabbed through the hand by a gang member.

The campaigner, who recently held a 'Uniting Nottz' event with public authorities and local companies to try to formulate a response to some of the region's pressing social issues, explained that in his view knife crime was a symptom of deprivation and poor access to public services like education and healthcare. Mr Baz said: "We are seeing an increase in young people carrying knives, but knife crime is often seen as a simple issue. But the issue is that the people who use knives are not being supported, guided away from that life and given opportunities.

"They say it takes a village to bring up a child, but if the village doesn't the child will burn it down to feel its warmth." Mr Baz added it was not all "doom and gloom" as charities like his were trying to take knives off young people through outreach and provide opportunities through partnership with the private sector, but warned the situation was getting out of control.

"The scale of the issue now is getting unmanageable for organisations like ours, I'm really scared and concerned about the future. As a society we have been doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result - something needs to change.

"Our leaders really need to be thinking about how to make a change, otherwise taxpayers will be paying for more prisoners and more people will be dying."

Nottinghamshire Police said it was committed to tackling knife crime in the city, with the force asking for help to identify the people pictured in its CCTV appeal.

PC Adam Abid said: “Carrying offensive weapons is extremely dangerous and will not be tolerated. We are doing everything we can to identify and apprehend those involved in this incident and would now like to appeal to the public for help.

“If you recognise anyone in these images, please get in touch with us as soon as possible. We are committed to making our communities safer and take a zero tolerance approach to offensive weapon and knife crime. I’d therefore urge anyone who has information in relation to offensive weapons or knife crime to contact us so that we can continue to crackdown on offenders.”