It’s A Long Way To Come For A Brawl, Isn’t It?

Police were called to Hamlet Court Road on Monday night at about 10.15pm following reports of groups of people attacking each other including an alleged masked man using a machete in the fight.

Ah, Hamlet Court Road. It used to be such a thriving area; I went there on Friday, to collect some curtains I'd ordered, and what a difference in a few years, since I was there last.

It's now entirely composed of restaurants & cafes, interspersed with closed & semi-derelict stores, and more charity shops than I've ever seen in one road.

Here and there, a faded boutique shop clings grimly on, until its last regular customer dies or moves away, and it too succumbs.

Officers arrested an 18-year-old man from Harrow at the scene, on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon.

He is currently in custody while police continue with their enquiries.

Why would someone come all the way from Harrow for a ruck in a run-down seaside town, I wonder?

One witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It looked as though the fight was between two groups, there was at least one man with his face covered and a machete.

"It has got much worse in this area in the past few months, we have seen a lot of trouble especially in the evenings and through the night.

“I have seen people doing drug deals in the middle of the street at all times of day, they don’t seem to care who sees them. It feels quite lawless - I don’t feel comfortable walking around the area and I think a lot of other people would agree.

“It was a beautiful area once, but there are some serious issues that really need to be addressed quickly before these incidents spiral out of control.”

Ah. Well, that explains it, I suppose.