A WREXHAM trader says he no longer feels safe opening his cafe after cutting his hand removing piles of rubbish left by homeless people sheltering in his doorway.

Steven Vale, who runs Caroline's Viennese Patisserie in Central Arcade, also had to clean away human waste from the entrance to the arcade when he opened up on Sunday morning.

"I came into the shop on Sunday to clean up and replenish and there were bed rolls and human waste all over the entrance," said Steven.

"There was uneaten food and discarded clothing and I had the unpleasant task of cleaning up the waste and when I picked up a sleeping bag I felt something sharp which cut my hand.

"I've no idea what it was because I didn't want to fish around and risk it happening again - I just bagged it up."

Steven, who has run the much-loved cafe for five years in the Victorian surroundings of the town's Central Arcade, said the homeless problem was affecting all the surrounding businesses leaving many traders fearing a confrontation or an injury like the one he received.

"The situation here has been ongoing for about a year and we've had it happen before," he said.

"Our deliveryman has been here at 6am in the morning and he has been threatened.

"Customers have told us that if there's that much mess they won't come in so it's becoming really bad for business.

"Wrexham has become a magnet for these people and I don't mean that in a derogatory way but I think there's a lot of misguided information about rough sleepers because I think some of them aren't genuine."

Steve said he worried that people who stopped to help the homeless and donated food clothes to them on the street could be making the problem worse.

"We have a lot of kind people here in Wrexham who give them help and it just exacerbates the problem as they think 'come to Wrexham - you'll be looked after'."

Steve was also critical of the council who he feels are not doing enough to help traders in the town.

"The council don't seem to do anything to be honest," he added.

"Everything seems to be done by well-meaning volunteers.

"The police have been down here several times and have moved them on but they are stretched to the limit.

"It's a multi-agency problem but if you're on the receiving end like me it makes you very angry and think 'do I really need to carry on with this'."