THERE was a major fight in Ludlow Town Centre three days before Christmas.

It is the latest example of anti-social activity in the town and was witness by Tim Gill, Mayor of Ludlow and his wife Mary.

They were walking through the town on the Friday before Christmas when it happened.

“Mary and I and a friend were walking up Broad Street on Friday night at 7.15,” said Mr Gill.

“Our friend who had met us a few minutes earlier said she had had nearly had a youth pushed into her when she was coming to meet us and the town was noisy with shouting from drunks.

The Mayor said that this was just the start.

“As we approached Bodenhams’ corner there was a lot of shouting and a girl screaming,” he added.

When we turned the corner, there was a full scale fight going on in the middle of the road outside Barclays involving between 10 and 12 young people.

“There were five cars in a queue as they could not get by. The fighting moved to the side, cars moved on and there was then a lull before the fighting and screaming erupted again in the middle of road.

“The fighting started to get very vicious. I phoned the police. Once again cars were unable to get by and the line stretched to the Bull Ring.

“We were around for about another five minutes as the brawl and shouting and screaming continued.”

Tim Gill was concerned about a delay in the arrival of the police.

“No police turned up while we were there, despite us being told at a recent council meeting that two cars were now based at Ludlow,” Mr Gill said.

“Such incidents, discourage older people coming into the town in the evening and reinforce their opinion that the town is not safe at night, a view I do not generally share. But, both my friend and wife found it intimidating.”

The Mayor is worried about the impact that this kind of incident has upon the town and the impression that it gives to visitors. He also believes that there are questions to be asked about pubs in the town that he feels may be serving people who are under the influence of alcohol.

“Traffic being held up while there is brawling in the middle of King Street is hardly a good advert for the town,” added the Mayor.

“However, it also raises the question as to whether local public houses are in breach of their licence and serving people clearly intoxicated.”

This is the latest in a number of incidents in Ludlow Town Centre.

In the past rowdy behaviour has resulted in glass bottles being broken and incidents of criminal behaviour.

On one occasion a late night incident resulted in people who had left a pub urinating through letter boxes.

There have also been problems with drivers using town centre roads as a race track.