A CITY barman and recent university graduate has shared his shock after seeing crowds of young people standing together, shouting and hugging in the city.

Ryan Williams 22, became so frustrated with the behaviour of his peers he decided to capture their antics on tape.

The video he recorded from the back of a taxi on last Wednesday at 10pm shows youngsters in large groups with no attempts at social distancing in Angel Place.

Mr Williams, who works at The Imperial Tavern in St Nicholas Street, said: "It is becoming increasingly obvious that the main problems in Worcester are being totally ignored.

"At kicking out time I head to the taxi rank to get a ride home and I was greeted with an unbelievable sight at The Cross.

"Hordes of students in groups way more than six, falling over each other, standing in the middle of the road and blocking the bus station; shouting and screaming.

"I quickly got my phone out and started to record what I was seeing from the back of my taxi. Where are the police? Why is nobody addressing places who appear to have their own set of rules? Where are the licensing people who berate other pubs who are doing the right thing and instead ignore those that aren’t?

"Something needs to be done and it needs to be done now. Worcestershire is in a precarious position and this kind of behaviour from the people who don’t think coronavirus will affect them and the lack of intervention from the people who have the power to change this, is acutely unnerving and disrespectful to the businesses in this city who are doing the right thing."

Mr Williams said on Friday and Saturday night students at the pub where he worked often needed a reminder that there is a pandemic.

He said: "'Put your mask on' is becoming a bit of an unwanted catchphrase along with 'sit down' and 'can you please stop shouting and swearing right across the pub please?'

He added: "Constantly listening to the older clientele that we typically get in our pub claiming coronavirus to be a myth is particularly mind-numbing I grant you, but very rarely do we get anybody from this demographic who are deliberately ignoring rules and not following protocols that we have set in place at the pub.

"Attitudes need to change and people of all generations need to respect the situation at hand and do the right thing. This is only going to happen if the council actually look at what is going on at night because it would seem as though they are blind to the fact that there are issues in dire need of addressing in order to protect the majority.

"University officials also need to step up to ensure that penalties are in place for students not adhering to the government measures but also to educate so that those penalties don’t need to be given. We must act together, now and fast to save our city and our beautiful collection of pubs, restaurants and bars from the financial ruin that will ensue from further restrictions."

West Mercia Police said they had shared the video with the licensing team for further investigation.

Chief Inspector Gareth Morgan, of West Mercia Police, said: “Over the last seven months the vast majority of people across Worcestershire have done the right thing and adhered to the guidelines and we are sure this will remain the case.

“We are actively working with our partners and local community to help prevent the further spread of infections, particularly as some areas across the country are seeing a significant rise in reported cases.

“If we see people breaking the rules then we will speak to them and if they don’t comply with regulations we will use our powers and enforce. We take reports of non-compliance very seriously and just last week gave out fixed penalty notices following a house party and gathering at two separate private addresses as well as at a shop where the regulations weren’t being followed. Our officers will continue to carry out patrols in key areas and act on intelligence we receive.

“I’m pleased to report that the majority of venues and the public are compliant with the regulations but if anyone suspects that breaches are taking place we would ask them to report them directly to us."

Ross Renton, Senior Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Worcester, said: “Implementing social distancing measures is an important responsibility for all organisations. The university welcomes any further measures in the city to help ensure all those using the city’s shops, bars and restaurants are able to do so in a safe and responsible way at all times.

“The university has worked hard to successfully introduce a range of measures across its campuses, working very closely with our colleagues in Public Health throughout. This now the eighth week of teaching and there have been no outbreaks or cluster cases of Covid-19 at the University or in any university residences.

"However, we are not complacent and we are continuously working hard with the Students’ Union and other partners to encourage all members of our community to follow all the guidance and regulations. It is up to us all to play our part in helping to keep each other safe.”

Dr Kathryn Cobain, the Director for Public Health for Worcestershire, added: “It is the responsibility of us all to keep our distance from others, wherever we are. If the rules are not followed, we will see increases in the rates of infection and we risk going into tougher restriction measures.

"Those higher tiers of restrictions could see our bars, restaurants and other businesses having to close their doors. No-one wants this to happen in Worcestershire, so we all have to do what is right, keep our distance and take responsibility for our actions."

What do you think about the video? Have you seen similar scenes in Worcester at night?