Manchester - Urbis

Interesting article from a few years ago.

BANNED FROM SHOPS.. BECAUSE SHE'S A GOTH - News - Mirror.co.uk:

"BANNED FROM SHOPS.. BECAUSE SHE'S A GOTH By Daniel Boffey 07/06/2005 TEENAGER Melissa Fletcher was banned from a shopping centre because of her Goth fashion. Security guards stopped the 16-year-old at the entrance, saying her dyed red and black hair, pierced lip and black clothes would put shoppers off buying. Yet Melissa had no trouble getting in earlier that day when accompanied by her mum. Melissa was with two 16-year-old friends at the Triangle complex in Manchester city centre. Advertisement Her mother Sharon, 34, of Denton, Greater Manchester, said yesterday: 'Melissa does not drink, smoke or take drugs. 'She knows what is right and what is wrong but dressing differently is no reason to be singled out. 'Melissa had money in her pockets to spend but she did not even get through the front door. 'The security guard told me later that he was under strict orders not to let them in because of the way they looked....'"

The Triangle continue their policy today making life hard for some as they are next to Urbis - Cathedral square the main teen alternative hangout in Manchester. The teenagers meet there to catch up withfriends and also to seek safey in numbers to avoid assault. Nevertheless local alternative teens can face fights in the area it is not unknown for large groups of thugs to come there looking for a fight. The irony is that the Triangle was formerly Manchester Corn Exchange a place full of alternative shops but after the IRA bomb in 1997 it was redeveloped into another mainstream shopping area.

See the posts on Blackburn for a similar problem today and the post about the dispersal order at Bristol College Green .