The owner of Arnold’s store chain Frank Arnold has criticised what he claims to be a “lack of police response” to daily occurrences of loitering, trespassing and drug-dealing on his Somerset property.

Mr Arnold said a group of people congregate outside his supermarket near the Naval Field on an almost daily basis but, when he calls the police, the most they do is ask them to move on.

He told The Royal Gazette: “It is an ongoing issue I have with the lack of police response. There is a daily occurrence of loitering, soliciting, selling drugs.

“The police don’t even get out of their cars and it is all happening on my premises.”

Mr Arnold said after one recent incident, he called police at 6.15pm and they did not show up until 8.55pm.

He said: “There were ten to fifteen guys loitering and selling drugs and no one showed up. ‘We will look into it,’ is what they tell me.

“There are signs posted for loitering, trespassing, everything — but the police refuse to prosecute anyone. I have asked them over and over. Most of the time they don’t get out of their cars, they just say, ‘You guys have got to move on’. That is it, every time. It is disgusting.

“One officer tells us to call Somerset Police Station, another says call Comops, another says 911 but none of them do anything.”

This newspaper has asked for comment from the Bermuda Police Service since October 5, but has not yet received one.

Earlier this month the Bermuda Police Service announced that front-counter services were being suspended at Somerset Police Station as well as the stations at the airport and Southside due to the “low volume of enquiries” with Hamilton Police Station maintaining 24/7 operation for all three stations.

Police said at the time that the move “will not affect the level of police response in any of those areas and police would continue to work from the stations as normal”.