A BUSINESS owner says he has seen people having sex and overdosing on drugs outside two derelict buildings in a notorious city street.

An application has been made for security gates on the shop units opposite McDonald's in Angel Street, Worcester, which were formerly home to BSM and The Mine Jewellers.

Javid Hassan, the owner of the shop next door, Ary Mobile Repair Centre, told the Worcester News he has to call the police "at least once a day" and has "lost count" of the number of times he has had to call ambulances due to people overdosing on drugs.

Mr Hassan said: "The security gates are needed as a matter of urgency. People think that Angel Street is a horrible place and it definitely affects our business. People do not want to go along this street.

"We have to call the police at least once a day, if not twice a day. People take drugs there and wee in the street. It is disgusting. They also drink in the street.

"I have lost count of the amount of times people have overdosed and I have had to call an ambulance.

"Rough sleepers are in the shop doorways and beg for money from passers-by.

"They leave heaps of rubbish outside the doorways."

"One time I came to the shop and saw people actually having sex there.

"Something needs to be done urgently. I think the gates will help."

The owners of the businesses in Angel Street have been contacted several times by a fire officer over a risk of fire in the doorways, the application says.

There are plans to have flats and a new shop at the buildings, which have been left empty for a number of years.

In the plans, two flats are proposed to be built on the upper floors with the ground floor used as a shop.

The application follows complaints in recent months about residents sleeping in the shop doorways and taking drugs there.

In August, we reported how diners in McDonald’s watched a young woman apparently overdose on drugs in Angel Street outside the shops.

A witness reported seeing her lying in the street with a syringe in her arm as horrified onlookers, including children, watched from McDonald’s.

The application claims that the external gates are "urgently required" with other proposals set to be submitted in connection with the refurbishment of the ground floor.

Planning applicants HJ and ME Hickman added: "There is a problem with rough sleepers using the doorway resulting in access being blocked.

"The owners have also been approached by the fire officer concerned about the risk of fire in the property to someone ‘living’ in that space.

"Although police officers have been seen checking on any person in the doorway, they tend to leave them alone, not move them.

"Further, the phone shop next door are also adversely affected by this problem so a means of removing public access to the V shaped entrance when the shop is not in use is urgently required."

At present, it is not known which business will take over the shop.

The unit previously belonging to BSM has been unused since 2002.

Worcester City Council will decide whether to grant the request to install the security gates.