Fights and thefts are becoming commonplace in Croydon’s new crime hotspot in the town centre, locals have said.

It all came to a head last week when two 13-year-olds were stabbed in the late afternoon in Church Street.

The teenagers were rushed to hospital after a huge fight erupted in the road at around 5.30pm on Monday (March 21).

It came just an hour after an 18-year-old was stabbed less than two miles away in Elmwood Road.

Shop workers in Church Street told the Local Democracy Reporting Service said fights regularly happen in the area as young people gather there after school.

They claim things have got worse in the past year with large groups of young people congregating in the area after school.

Kamran Iqbal, who runs a shop in the street, said he has seen other violent attacks in recent months.

The 38-year-old said: “Every day there is fighting. They come inside the shop and try and steal the vapes.

"I have complained to the police, I don’t feel safe in this street. How can schoolchildren keep a knife in their pocket?

“It has got horrible in the last year but there is no hope that anyone will do anything.

"I think they should have police up and down the road every day after school otherwise they can’t stop the crime.”

Another shop worker in the street Faheed Azam, 31, heard the commotion when the fight broke out in Church Street and said customers were scared.

He said: “It would be very good if police were here when school ends for the safety of everyone.

"When the police are here everyone feels safe and there is no fighting, nothing.

“Customers are still scared so we are worried about the business. No one is coming in between 3-5pm when the school kids are here.”

While Vlad Chireta, 26, who works in a restaurant said there are similar incidents ‘all the time’.

He added: “In my opinion, the police could do more and be more present on the streets.”

Youth worker Anthony King said the spate of knife crime was “devastating” as things had started to look up since Croydon recorded the highest number of youth murders in London in 2021.

No teenagers were killed in Croydon last year, which he put down to grassroots organisations working more closely with the police and council.

Mr King said: “Church Street is becoming a new hub for children and young people to come and have fun but what it brings with it is criminality, street robberies and sadly violence.

“Young children are looking for things to do, there are cheap chicken and chip shops, there is a hub for them to engage with their friends. 

"Church Street has been on the radar for a long time, we knew any day something could happen.”

Mr King, who chairs the My Ends project which brings together the community every Friday, fears children in Croydon have become desensitised to knife crime.

He thinks there needs to be more for young people to do locally.

Two days after the stabbings an emergency meeting was held bringing together youth workers, headteachers, the council and police.

Here it was decided a space would be set up for young people in the  Centrale shopping centre to give those hanging around in Church Street somewhere to go.

Mr King added: “Croydon’s challenge is that our young people are very desensitised to knife crime. 

"When you’re talking about 13 or 14 years old individuals involved in stabbings it has a wider impact on their friends, their family members – some of them have had so much trauma.”

After the stabbings, Superintendent Mitch Carr, South Area Command Unit, said: “Croydon residents will rightly be concerned at this spate of unacceptable and shocking violent incidents.

"We of course share that concern and are doing everything we can to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators.

“We do not and will not tolerate violence on our streets. Local people can expect to see an enhanced policing presence across the borough, and anyone who has information that could assist us with these investigations is encouraged to report it immediately.”

Supt Carr said the incidents in Elmwood Road and Church Street were not being treated as linked. 

Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were arrested; the first on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and affray, and the second on suspicion of affray in relation to the Church Street stabbings while two 18-year-olds were were arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm in relation to the Elmwood Road incident.

Croydon Council’s executive mayor, Jason Perry, said: “The council’s youth engagement and neighbourhood safety officers have been out in the area to speak to residents and businesses and engage with young people, while police are making additional police patrols.

“The council is working with local schools, community organisations and youth groups to support young people with a range of activities and mentoring in town centre locations.

"This is part of the council’s ongoing work to tackle violence and keep young people safe on our streets.”