HOW safe are Truro’s streets?

That’s the question we’re is asking after one of our own journalists was threatened with a knife in Pydar Street.

Sports reporter David Sillifant had been playing table tennis in the People’s Palace as part of West Cornwall table tennis league when he stepped out for some fresh air between matches.

“I was walking down Pydar Street from TK Maxx at around 9.15pm, just two or three hundred yards, and I was about to turn round when I noticed a homeless guy a few metres away from me,” he said. “He flashed his knife, and I was about to run for my life when some teenagers appeared and he scarpered. It all happened so quickly.

“The kids were so helpful, making sure I was all right, and my friend called the police.”

David, 32, said the situation was in stark contrast to how he imagined Cornwall’s only city. “I like Truro – it’s small and pretty, and it has nice shops,” he said. “I know things like this can happen in any town or city, but even so, I was a bit shocked it could happen there.

“It also made me realise how in a matter of seconds, my life could have been over. He was far enough away and I can run half decently, but if we’d passed each other in the street, I could have been in real trouble.

“I suspect he wanted money rather than to hurt me – that’s what I tell myself, anyway.”

Truro was named the safest city for a night out in 2023, but with two men currently bailed and banned from Cornwall after a notorious knife-related incident outside The Central Grill in Calenick Street in broad daylight, we asked city representatives: how safe should one feel in Truro’s streets at night, or indeed any time?

Cllr Steven Webb, Lib Dem Cornwall and city councillor for Truro Moresk and Trehaverne, said he was “really shocked” to learn of David’s experience, adding: “With a heavy heart, I think we do need to be careful, and this is the first time I’ve thought that. We have had an influx of people who are down on their luck, and we need to get them help and as well as protect everyone else.

“This is why I think it’s really important Andy Burnham keeps his word about helping the homeless on our streets, because this is a real problem in Truro at the moment.”

The Prime Minister launched a £442-million Rough Sleeping Programme in July, with the national goal of offering all rough sleepers a route off the streets by Christmas.

Cllr Webb urged members of the republic to report crimes, to enable an accurate picture of crime in the city that would attract sufficient funding to tackle it. “Everything needs to be reported, otherwise we won’t get the resources we need,” he said.

“I don’t think we have enough police officers, and Truro City Council has to pay towards our Anti-Social Behviour (ASB) Officer and CCTV – personally, I don’t think that should be down to us. It used to be down to the police. It’s not their fault – I think they need more resources.

“Very often when we sit down to meetings with the police, we are told ‘it wasn’t reported’, which is very frustrating. People are frightened to call 999 and put the burden on the police, but they would rather you did than didn’t, and they have a triage system. Ultimately, if these things aren’t reported, we won’t get those resources, and someone else will.”

The Truro Safe Partnership, formed in 2013 by Truro City Council, Devon and Cornwall Police, Cornwall Council, Truro Business Improvement District (BID) and support organisations to target issues including street drinking, homelessness, drug use and anti-social behaviour.

Street rangers are funded largely by Truro BID, which represents levy-paying city-centre retail outlets. The rangers have Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS) powers, which means they can stop individuals and take down names and addresses of those related to ASB incidents to identify offenders which can then be handed on to the police.

BID manager Alun Jones said: “Like all city centres around the country, Truro will have an element of criminal activity, day and night. We are currently less impacted than many other parts of the UK, but any crime is a concern.

“We urge the public to report all incidents to the police. If you feel threatened, alarmed, distressed or concerned for your own safety or that of somebody else, don’t hesitate to call 999.”

Mr Jones added that as well as CCTV monitoring, business owners use a phone app that enables them to report incidents and share intelligence with each other and the police. Street rangers are also employed during the late afternoon and early evening period, although Mr Jones would not confirm whether they were still active at the time of this incident.

Truro also has an anti-social behaviour (ASB) officer, Stephen Lennon, who is co-funded by Cornwall Council, Truro City Council and Truro BID. Mr Lennon was contacted for this piece.