Nottingham, UK: A Nottingham shopkeeper who was robbed at gunpoint has said she still does not feel safe despite new restrictions on balaclavas and other face coverings in the city centre, arguing that stronger action is needed to protect local businesses and residents.
Inderjit Kaur, owner of Deepak Foodstore in Nottingham, recalled the terrifying 2023 robbery in which three masked men entered her shop carrying guns and a knife and demanded that the till be opened. She said the attackers restrained her elderly husband and threatened him with what was later described as an imitation firearm.
Although the three men were subsequently caught and received prison sentences, Kaur said the psychological impact of the incident has remained. She told The Independent that she continues to worry about another attack and believes more needs to be done to prevent crime rather than simply deal with offenders after an incident.
“I still don’t feel safe. The police need to do more,” Kaur said.
Her concerns come as Nottingham has introduced new restrictions targeting the use of face coverings to conceal identity during crime or anti-social behaviour. The restrictions came into force on 15 September 2026 under the city’s wider Operation Reclaim initiative.
The rules allow police and authorised council officers to require a person to remove a balaclava or similar face covering where they reasonably believe it is being used to conceal identity for criminal or anti-social purposes. Those who refuse can face a £70 on-the-spot fine, confiscation of the face covering or referral to an immediate-justice programme. Persistent offenders can potentially face a Criminal Behaviour Order restricting their access to the city centre.
Importantly, the measure is not a blanket ban on face coverings. Exemptions apply where coverings are worn for legitimate reasons, including religious, medical, health or work-related purposes.
The policy followed evidence collected by Nottinghamshire Police identifying more than 180 city-centre incidents involving face coverings or balaclavas between June 2025 and June 2026. Police say the restrictions are part of a wider strategy involving high-visibility patrols, CCTV, facial-recognition technology and action against youth anti-social behaviour and retail crime.
More than 2,200 people responded to the council consultation, with more than 90 per cent supporting action to tackle criminal behaviour involving face coverings, according to ITV News Central.
However, residents and business owners are making clear that enforcement of face-covering restrictions alone will not resolve their concerns. Kaur’s experience highlights the wider challenge facing independent retailers: the fear created by violent robbery can remain long after offenders have been arrested and prosecuted.
For Nottingham’s Sikh and wider South Asian business community, the issue also raises questions about whether local shopkeepers feel adequately protected while serving their communities.
Kaur’s message is therefore broader than the debate over balaclavas. For people who have experienced an armed robbery, feeling safe requires more than a new rule—it requires visible policing, effective prevention, rapid responses to threats and sustained support for victims and local businesses.
Nottinghamshire Police says Operation Reclaim is already addressing several of these issues, including retail crime, weapon carrying, drug dealing and anti-social behaviour. Police reported that city-centre anti-social behaviour had fallen by 42 per cent since the operation began.
The continuing concern among shopkeepers such as Kaur, however, shows that rebuilding public confidence may take considerably more than introducing restrictions on what people wear.