Video nasty

The other week I was at a meeting attended by various retailers and business people, and one of the main themes was how to improve the image Croydon projects to the rest of the country.

Some of our biggest employers - and I'm mentioning no names here - admitted they feel embarrassed when important clients visit from central London and have to walk through the town to get to their offices.

A lot of people are putting a great deal of time and effort into thinking of ways to put some more personality into the town centre, and to get rid of the slightly menacing air it can have sometimes.

But having seen the video that sparked this week's front page lead it's clear they've got a massive task on their hands.

We'll have the story - and hopefully the video - up online later, but for those of you who haven't seen it, it features CCTV footage shot by a firm of solicitors from their offices in Croydon High Street.

Over the course of a couple of weeks it captured some shocking scenes of violence and wanton vandalism.

Without wanting to lower the tone, it's going to be hard for Croydon to improve its image when some people think it's perfectly acceptable to drop their trousers and go to the toilet in the middle of the street in broad daylight.

And don't get me started on the random bottlings, vomiting and window-smashing.

Max Menon from Allders, who talks a lot of sense, points out in the article that every town centre has problems, and he's right.

But given that out-of-town retail parks like Bluewater and Lakeside present are the real competition for Croydon shoppers, it's clear something needs to be done to keep people visiting the town.

More outdoor events in North End, such as continental markets, may help, and taking a zero-tolerance approach to the alcohol-free drinking zones certainly will, but it's going to be a long fight.