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High Street’s problems with drink, drugs, prostitution and violence are not being tackled but are just being moved on by Swansea police in a new drive, a charity worker has claimed.

The furious worker at a city homeless charity claimed they were being given no support through the crackdown and criticised the operation as he claimed it had led to a “bleaching” of the streets.

Police have said their operation in High Street remains under review but that they are continuing to support vulnerable women and men, while also protecting the community.

The South Wales force has vowed people will see a difference in High Street in just six months through the action being taken under Operation Jaeger, which is specifically targeting men and women engaging in sex work in the city centre.

It comes in the wake of accusations of the top end of High Street being abandoned to crime by some business owners.

Why a women's charity thinks the police crackdown on prostitution in Swansea could do harm

But Andrew Davies, senior support worker and independent sexual violence advisor at Swansea Homeless Sanctuary, in a Facebook message to the South Wales Police page, said: “Well, the police state they are working with local organisations is rubbish.

“We get NO SUPPORT from the police.

“We ask for support and all I got...is we are understaffed because of the Home Office, when I said I don’t care about politics I just want to know what is happening.

“No response, just laughed at."

He said they had always had a good relationship with the police but claimed the force was not interested in fixing the problem, just moving "it on to somewhere else in the city”.

The High Street pub owner who just couldn't take it any more:

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He added: “They are just bleaching the streets.”

Swansea’s chief superintendent Martin Jones, of South Wales Police, previously made clear the problems were endemic and complex.

The drugs den Swansea underpass you'd probably never want to enter

In response to the claims by the charity worker, Superintendent Cath Larkman said: “We continue to support vulnerable women and men and recognise that many engaged in sex work are extremely vulnerable. Therefore every effort will continue to be made to protect, support and divert women and men away from this activity.

“As previously made clear, ‘kerb crawlers’, those people coming to the area with the intention of approaching sex workers to pay them for their services, can expect a range of enforcement action, from dispersal notices, conditional cautions to prosecution.

“Enforcement action will also apply to anyone found to be organising or coercing sex workers into prostitution.

“Those that exploit sex workers remain our focus, however it is clearly not acceptable for members of our community to be avoiding any particular area out of fear.

“Neither is it acceptable for sex acts to be carried out in public.

“We have a duty of care to protect all the community in the city and in particular the residents in areas where sex workers are active and whose views we value.

“In instances where sex workers continually refuse to engage with the wide range of support on offer and flout the law, one option we will consider is enforcement.

"The operation will continue to remain under review with continuing input from our partners and we value both their and the publics’ feedback at all times.”