A woman in east Leeds fears her business may be run into the ground by a large group of drinkers who intimidate customers and defecate in the street.
Clare Riley, 36, runs R & R Scrap Metal Merchants, which is based on a side street off Compton Road in Harehills.
She says that most days she is faced with a large group of people who congregate on the street to drink alcohol, abuse customers and even use the road outside her business as a toilet.
"It's been going on for months and months and months," she said.
"I go out sometimes and there are people urinating and even pooing right outside my business. I've seen it many times.
"It's like an open-air toilet. It's ridiculous."
Clare says she is not alone in her fears that the antisocial behaviour could prevent customers from turning up, and that many of the shop owners in Compton Road share her concerns.
"This is all happening when customers are arriving," said Clare.
"One of these guys actually kicked one of my customers' car as they came through.
"Where the group all congregate is at the end of the road, so it's preventing my customers from coming through.
"I feel vulnerable, because I'm quite often in the scrap yard by myself. If I want a sandwich at lunch, I can't walk round because I'm intimidated."
Leeds City Council is currently reviewing a set of rules aimed at preventing street drinking in Harehills. The Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was introduced in October 2017 to prohibit the consumption of alcohol in public places and anti-social behaviour.
A public consultation ended earlier this month and decision is due shortly on whether to extend the PSPO.
However, Clare says the issues have been prevalent throughout the previous set of rules - and when she reports issues to the police, the group simply move away for a short period before coming back and repeating their actions all over again.
Clare said: "The police have come before, but there's nothing they can do because even if they are given an ASBO, they just move to another street.
"When the new rule of six came in I was quite relieved. I hoped the problem would ease - but if anything it's got worse.
"I phoned the police on Monday because there were 20-plus people right outside my business. The officers then just put them into groups of six. I can't get my head around it.
"I understand it's difficult, but if police went to somebody's garden and there were 20 people there, they wouldn't just split them into groups of six.
"Harehills hasn't got a good reputation, but we're good citizens reporting these problems and nothing is changing.
"Something needs to happen, otherwise businesses are going to close."
LeedsLive has contacted all three Gipton and Harehills ward councillors for a response.
