Kilvinder Vigurs, deputy mayor of policing and crime for South Yorkshire, describes the reports as “unacceptable” and says she is “deeply concerned” about the issue.
“Unfortunately something that was supposed to provide me a living and safety is now arguably the place I feel least safe,” Kate says.
The former teacher previously sold books at local markets and opened the shop with her husband in 2024.
“I think every place deserves its own independent bookshop and there was definitely a gap in the market,” she says.
“This unit became available and I felt like everything just fell into place.” Shortly after the opening weekend, Kate says a man who appeared “mentally unwell” started “trashing the shop, threatening to fight people and getting very angry”.
A second man would turn up each morning and watch staff with his “teeth gritted”, she says.
South Yorkshire Police recently issued a formal warning to a third man after he repeatedly made staff feel uncomfortable.
The bookseller says the incidents “broke” her emotionally. “I’m just at a loss of what to do at this point because I don’t believe we are safe,” she says. “I feel like a sitting duck.”
Anwen Fryer Burrows opened the Airy Fairy gift shop on London Road in 1999 and runs a vegetarian cafe from the back of the store. “I think every member of staff at some point has felt vulnerable due to some person, and by and large that is men, sadly,” she says. “It’s something that just feels inescapable.”
During her time running the shop, her safety upgrades have included a magnetic security door after being “robbed and assaulted” and a recent video doorbell installation. “Having accessible, free self-defence training for women would certainly go some way towards helping us feel safer,” Anwen says. “When I started my shop, we had a local community police officer and he was absolutely fabulous. “The police knew about anybody who was a bit of a troublemaker in the area because they were good at having a rapport and helped to keep trouble to a minimum. “I think that’s a great loss to little communities like this.”
Jules Grey recently moved her Hop Hideout beer shop to Leah’s Yard in Sheffield city centre. She says her outlook is to always treat everyone with “kindness and compassion”, however she has experienced a spike in antisocial behaviour in the last year. “In every single location I’ve had some issues to deal with, and all of the incidents bar one have been men acting very threatening or aggressive towards me,” she says. “I’ve had to go to the police, with lots of ongoing incidents.”
“With the cost of living, cuts to services, all of these societal things going on, obviously I want people to get help – but this sort of behaviour isn’t acceptable.
“I should be able to come into work and not feel threatened or abused by a stranger.”
Jules Grey has been running a beer shop business for more than a decade and has seen a spike in antisocial behaviour in the last year
“Harassment and intimidation are crimes,” Kilvinder says. “If someone threatens you, puts hands on you or refuses to leave when asked, that crosses the line into criminal offending.” She continues: “Visibility and access to local police officers helps to build confidence. “You can contact your local named neighbourhood team on the South Yorkshire Police website and I encourage business owners to build those relationships so problems are tackled early and report all incidents.”
Nik Dodsworth, local policing inspector for Sheffield North West, says: “Since becoming aware of concerns in the Crookes area we have been working closely with Ms Nixon and other businesses, offering advice and support including around enhanced security measures and crime prevention tactics.
“We have also been exploring the possibility of civil orders against prolific individuals.”
ace250674 on
Bring back mental asylums instead of letting weirdos and lunatics roam the streets until something horrific happens
AnDeH_1917 on
A local hairdresser’s now keeps its doors locked permanently in my town and will now only open for those with appointments due to this issue, sad state of affairs.
[deleted] on
[removed]
FoxCredibilityInc on
Christ. Crookes is a nice enough areas as well. Fuck knows what it’s like in Attercliffe if this is what it’s like in Crookes.
TimInRislip on
Yeah but doing something would involve making human rights lawyers unhappy.
And our prime minister happens to be a human rights lawyer.
Talonsminty on
The Tsunami of junkies sweeps away all but the corporations.
Big_Chungussi69 on
I do think if you go back to the 80’s 90′ and even 2000’s this problem was alot smaller. maybe because back then the average adjusted person wasnt afraid of repercussions of beating the snot out of the crazies when they stepped out of line.
I’ve slapped a crazed woman that started mouthing off and almost pushed my mum when we were walking through town. She got quiet after that. You need to treat them like children having tantrums. It honestly does work
Internet-Dick-Joke on
Hey, are we going to talk about how the shopkeepers targeted appear to be disproportionately women? Or how about the fact that the perpetrators seem to be disproportionately men? Do we think that might be a factor here?
Where the hell are all those “protect our women” types? (Oh wait, they’re totally fine with this kind of thing as long as it is the ‘right’ men doing it)
Wububadoo on
I’ve been to Sheffield once, and had such a concentrated amount of interactions with genuine nutters. And I’m from Birkenhead.
GunstarGreen on
Every town has its fair share of loonies. I hate to say this but its just the truth – a lot of these people are a net negative to society. They’re people that have to be ‘dealt with’ daily, taking up resources, making people feel unsafe. When I worked in the high street we had our fair share of regular druggies stealing, swearing, intimidating staff. I’m not sure what can be done, but its this sort of problem that keeps shops from opening.Â
VastVideo8006 on
Makes a nice change to be bashing the mentally ill on this sub instead of anyone who looks a bit foreign.
Keepin’ it classy like
birchpiece91 on
I read about this a few weeks ago on another sub. I believe she has temporarily closed the shop but are still taking online orders on their website – [link](https://novelsheffield.com/)
Absolutely in no way affiliated with this shop but my next couple of book orders will be from Novel and to support a small independent business going through a hard time, rather than to Waterstones or Amazon. I’d implore any other book lovers to show them some much needed kindness and do the same!
Cumbercoo on
Nothing new. My first job at the age of sixteen a couple decades ago was at The Works. There was a musty-smelling bloke who would come in just before closing time and hang around reading the books and never buy anything.
Long story short I caught him wanking over a Kama Sutra book. Security took him out, and he was back again the next week.
iamezekiel1_14 on
Saw an incident like this in the local bakery a couple of weeks ago (in fairness it was just confusing the guy was either homeless or mentally unwell; repeatedly refused his turn in the queue as he’d not made his mind up and waited for the whole queue to cycle through, 3 females behind the till who seemed to know him + male staff in the kitchen + arms such as bread knives if it came to it) & in the local High Street today, middle of lunch time and someone walking up the middle was clearly having some kind of mental snap it felt.
Small-Percentage-181 on
This article screems gentrified shop owners realising homeless drug addicts live nearby.
Warm_Egg2675 on
It won’t just be mental illness that’s going on here, it’ll be drug and alcohol use that’s causing some of this behaviour too. Drug use even in small towns is at an all time high. I live in a small town in the north of England, even on a Tuesday evening you’ll see young lads snorting drugs outside the pub or in the street somewhere and there’s nothing even going on, it’s a quiet town during the week. Drugs & excessive drinking  are way too normalised in this country.Â
Desperate_Humor7652 on
People cannot read books anymore. This is why Libraries and Book stores are closing. The intellectual quotient has declined at a rapid pace in the last 10 years. Lots more mental and social issues in Yorkshire as a whole thanks to the lack of and the cutting of mental health services.
Whitechix on
> Having accessible, free self-defence training for women would certainly go some way towards helping us feel safer
Going to come off insensitive here but this is actually hilarious, it just screams peak middle class and out of touch.
19 Comments
Shopkeepers in Sheffield are calling for more protection and support after experiencing harassment and threatening behaviour while at work.
Kate Nixon, the owner of Novel bookshop and café in Crookes, says she has been forced to close after 18 months after repeated incidents involving ‘”intimidating” and “antisocial” behaviour, with other female business owners in the city sharing similar stories.
Kilvinder Vigurs, deputy mayor of policing and crime for South Yorkshire, describes the reports as “unacceptable” and says she is “deeply concerned” about the issue.
“Unfortunately something that was supposed to provide me a living and safety is now arguably the place I feel least safe,” Kate says.
The former teacher previously sold books at local markets and opened the shop with her husband in 2024.
“I think every place deserves its own independent bookshop and there was definitely a gap in the market,” she says.
“This unit became available and I felt like everything just fell into place.” Shortly after the opening weekend, Kate says a man who appeared “mentally unwell” started “trashing the shop, threatening to fight people and getting very angry”.
A second man would turn up each morning and watch staff with his “teeth gritted”, she says.
South Yorkshire Police recently issued a formal warning to a third man after he repeatedly made staff feel uncomfortable.
The bookseller says the incidents “broke” her emotionally. “I’m just at a loss of what to do at this point because I don’t believe we are safe,” she says. “I feel like a sitting duck.”
Anwen Fryer Burrows opened the Airy Fairy gift shop on London Road in 1999 and runs a vegetarian cafe from the back of the store. “I think every member of staff at some point has felt vulnerable due to some person, and by and large that is men, sadly,” she says. “It’s something that just feels inescapable.”
During her time running the shop, her safety upgrades have included a magnetic security door after being “robbed and assaulted” and a recent video doorbell installation. “Having accessible, free self-defence training for women would certainly go some way towards helping us feel safer,” Anwen says. “When I started my shop, we had a local community police officer and he was absolutely fabulous. “The police knew about anybody who was a bit of a troublemaker in the area because they were good at having a rapport and helped to keep trouble to a minimum. “I think that’s a great loss to little communities like this.”
Jules Grey recently moved her Hop Hideout beer shop to Leah’s Yard in Sheffield city centre. She says her outlook is to always treat everyone with “kindness and compassion”, however she has experienced a spike in antisocial behaviour in the last year. “In every single location I’ve had some issues to deal with, and all of the incidents bar one have been men acting very threatening or aggressive towards me,” she says. “I’ve had to go to the police, with lots of ongoing incidents.”
“With the cost of living, cuts to services, all of these societal things going on, obviously I want people to get help – but this sort of behaviour isn’t acceptable.
“I should be able to come into work and not feel threatened or abused by a stranger.”
Jules Grey has been running a beer shop business for more than a decade and has seen a spike in antisocial behaviour in the last year
“Harassment and intimidation are crimes,” Kilvinder says. “If someone threatens you, puts hands on you or refuses to leave when asked, that crosses the line into criminal offending.” She continues: “Visibility and access to local police officers helps to build confidence. “You can contact your local named neighbourhood team on the South Yorkshire Police website and I encourage business owners to build those relationships so problems are tackled early and report all incidents.”
Nik Dodsworth, local policing inspector for Sheffield North West, says: “Since becoming aware of concerns in the Crookes area we have been working closely with Ms Nixon and other businesses, offering advice and support including around enhanced security measures and crime prevention tactics.
“We have also been exploring the possibility of civil orders against prolific individuals.”
Bring back mental asylums instead of letting weirdos and lunatics roam the streets until something horrific happens
A local hairdresser’s now keeps its doors locked permanently in my town and will now only open for those with appointments due to this issue, sad state of affairs.
[removed]
Christ. Crookes is a nice enough areas as well. Fuck knows what it’s like in Attercliffe if this is what it’s like in Crookes.
Yeah but doing something would involve making human rights lawyers unhappy.
And our prime minister happens to be a human rights lawyer.
The Tsunami of junkies sweeps away all but the corporations.
I do think if you go back to the 80’s 90′ and even 2000’s this problem was alot smaller. maybe because back then the average adjusted person wasnt afraid of repercussions of beating the snot out of the crazies when they stepped out of line.
I’ve slapped a crazed woman that started mouthing off and almost pushed my mum when we were walking through town. She got quiet after that. You need to treat them like children having tantrums. It honestly does work
Hey, are we going to talk about how the shopkeepers targeted appear to be disproportionately women? Or how about the fact that the perpetrators seem to be disproportionately men? Do we think that might be a factor here?
Where the hell are all those “protect our women” types? (Oh wait, they’re totally fine with this kind of thing as long as it is the ‘right’ men doing it)
I’ve been to Sheffield once, and had such a concentrated amount of interactions with genuine nutters. And I’m from Birkenhead.
Every town has its fair share of loonies. I hate to say this but its just the truth – a lot of these people are a net negative to society. They’re people that have to be ‘dealt with’ daily, taking up resources, making people feel unsafe. When I worked in the high street we had our fair share of regular druggies stealing, swearing, intimidating staff. I’m not sure what can be done, but its this sort of problem that keeps shops from opening.Â
Makes a nice change to be bashing the mentally ill on this sub instead of anyone who looks a bit foreign.
Keepin’ it classy like
I read about this a few weeks ago on another sub. I believe she has temporarily closed the shop but are still taking online orders on their website – [link](https://novelsheffield.com/)
Absolutely in no way affiliated with this shop but my next couple of book orders will be from Novel and to support a small independent business going through a hard time, rather than to Waterstones or Amazon. I’d implore any other book lovers to show them some much needed kindness and do the same!
Nothing new. My first job at the age of sixteen a couple decades ago was at The Works. There was a musty-smelling bloke who would come in just before closing time and hang around reading the books and never buy anything.
Long story short I caught him wanking over a Kama Sutra book. Security took him out, and he was back again the next week.
Saw an incident like this in the local bakery a couple of weeks ago (in fairness it was just confusing the guy was either homeless or mentally unwell; repeatedly refused his turn in the queue as he’d not made his mind up and waited for the whole queue to cycle through, 3 females behind the till who seemed to know him + male staff in the kitchen + arms such as bread knives if it came to it) & in the local High Street today, middle of lunch time and someone walking up the middle was clearly having some kind of mental snap it felt.
This article screems gentrified shop owners realising homeless drug addicts live nearby.
It won’t just be mental illness that’s going on here, it’ll be drug and alcohol use that’s causing some of this behaviour too. Drug use even in small towns is at an all time high. I live in a small town in the north of England, even on a Tuesday evening you’ll see young lads snorting drugs outside the pub or in the street somewhere and there’s nothing even going on, it’s a quiet town during the week. Drugs & excessive drinking  are way too normalised in this country.Â
People cannot read books anymore. This is why Libraries and Book stores are closing. The intellectual quotient has declined at a rapid pace in the last 10 years. Lots more mental and social issues in Yorkshire as a whole thanks to the lack of and the cutting of mental health services.
> Having accessible, free self-defence training for women would certainly go some way towards helping us feel safer
Going to come off insensitive here but this is actually hilarious, it just screams peak middle class and out of touch.