Majority of Britons think their high street has too many vape shops and hairdressers, Ipsos poll reveals

A new poll from Ipsos in the UK, in partnership with the Sunday Times, reveals that a majority of Britons are concerned about crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) across the UK, although they perceive it as less of a problem in their immediate local areas. The survey also highlights the challenges facing local high streets, with a lack of appealing shops and an overabundance of certain types of businesses cited as key deterrents for potential visitors.

Key findings

• Perception of rising crime: Eight in ten (79%) of Britons believe that crime and anti-social behaviour is a "big problem" in the UK as a whole. However, this reduces to 37% who feel this way about their local area. In addition, over half (58%) of Britons think crime has increased over the past twelve months. However, once again this reduces to 32% who feel this way about their local area.
• Urban vs. rural divide: Those living in rural areas are significantly less likely to consider crime a major problem in their local area compared to urban residents (15% rural vs. 41% urban).
• News influence: The majority (68%) of those who think crime has gone up in the UK in the past year think this because of things they’ve seen on the news. Those who think it has gone up in their local area cite an increase in anti-social behaviour (47%), as well as things on the news (48%).
• Fly-tipping and cannabis most frequently cited issues: Just over two in five say that they have witnessed or heard about littering/fly-tipping (44%) and the smell of cannabis (43%) in their local area within the last month. People living in urban areas are more likely to have witnessed or heard about different types of crimes or anti-social behaviours than those living in rural areas.

• But the public is split on whether they’ve smelled cannabis more: Two in five (43%) think the number of times they have smelled cannabis in public has increased over the past year. A similar proportion (41%) say it has stayed about the same, while 6% say it has decreased.
• Fly-tipping and mobile phone theft most bothersome behaviours: Littering/fly-tipping (83%), mobile phone theft (77%), and shoplifting (76%) are the public behaviours that Britons say bother them the most.
• High street challenges: Almost half (47%) of Britons visit their local high street or shopping area at least once a week. However, 35% say that not enough shops interest them in their local town/city centre, and 29% say that their local town/city centre has too many empty shops.
• Too many vape and barber shops: The public feels there are too many vape shops (61%) and barber shops/hairdressers (52%) on their local high streets.

Commenting on the findings, Keiran Pedley, Research Director at Ipsos, said:

These findings reflect widespread public concern about crime in Britain, even if the public are less concerned about the level of crime in their local area. Concern about crime is heavily influenced by media coverage as well as personal experience. When it comes to the high street, the quality of the offer is seen as lacking for many, with too many vape stores and hairdressers and not enough good quality shopping available generally to entice people there more often.

Technical note: 

• Ipsos interviewed 1,032 online British adults aged 1 8-75 from the 13th-16th June 2025.  
• Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.