Hastings Old Town open space becoming an eyesore say traders

The planted area, which contains seats a giant chessboard and sculptures by local artist Leigh Dyer, is overgrown with weeds, daubed with graffiti and littered with empty bottles and drugs paraphernalia, they say.

Now traders have taken to cleaning up the area in their own time but have called for Hastings Borough Council to take action.

A spokesperson said: “Every morning nearby traders try to clean it up. But we won’t handle drugs paraphernalia and filthy clothes that have been left there.”

They added: “Most of the Old Ton is the same. Hastings Borough Council doesn’t seem to want to spend money on it. Even the street bollards are maintained by the traders as they hadn’t been painted in over 12 years. We feel like we are fighting a losing battle.”

One local resident said: “Such a sad sight. Please keep trying to keep this beautiful space open to the public.” Another commented: “It is exactly the same in Wellington Square. The road cleaner is brilliant, but he is fighting a losing battle.”

Old Town Green councillor Julia Hilton said: “It is not looking great. I will pass this on to the officer and the street cleaning team who look after this area and see what they can do to spruce it up a bit.”

A spokesperson for Hastings Borough Council said: “This has been passed over to our waste team. They have asked the crew to go down and clear it up and see if there is anything we can do to keep on top of the issue.”

Butlers Gap has been used for events in the past, including pop-up craft fairs and is used as a Santa’s Grotto for the Old Town traders’ Christmas event.

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