Victim recovers from nightclub shooting

The man was shot outside the Carribean Club in Bristol

A man is recovering in hospital after a shooting outside a nightclub in an area which has become notorious for drug-related crime.

The 26-year-old victim was shot in the stomach outside the Carribean Club in the Easton area of Bristol in the early hours of Saturday morning.

On Monday, a subway, just a few yards from the club, which had become a haven for drugs dealers and muggers, was due to be boarded up.

Two mugging victims were to hammer the first nails into the boards of the Twinnell House subway. The nearby Rawnsley House subway was closed in October.

Deprived areas

Residents said the underpasses had been plagued by muggers and dealers.

Councillor John Astley said: "The residents and myself see that the area has gone downhill because there is so much activity by the police in St Paul's that we are getting the brunt of the activity that is moving on."

Home Secretary, David Blunkett, visited the area earlier this year to talk to local people.

It became one of five Policing Priority areas, targeted as part of an initiative to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

Dr Simon Bale, a volunteer with Active Communities Together, a community organisation that is trying to improve the lot of people living in deprived areas of Bristol, said: "Easton is on a knife-edge."

"You can throw money at places like this, but if you turn your back, it will go downhill again.

"The problem is not Stapleton Road, it is deeper than that, and there is a danger of thinking there can be a quick fix."