British woman issues warning for people travelling through outback Australia

The woman was forced to lock herself in her car in an Aussie outback town and is warning others to stay safe.

A young British woman driving through Australia with her partner has warned travellers to be “cautious”, amid ongoing problems with youth crime in regional areas.

Ash has been driving through northern Western Australia, and mentioned Fitzroy Crossing, a small town in the Kimberley region, as being particularity troublesome.

While she wasn’t involved in any incidents herself, she said other travellers have reported major problems “from Derby, all the way down to Darwin”.

The area has struggled with rampant youth crime in recent years.

“You basically have to stop here (Fitzroy Crossing) for fuel,” she explained in a social media clip this week.

Traveller Ash has warned tourists to be careful when going through regional Australian towns. Picture: TikTok

“You should stop at every station for fuel in the outback because it is so rural, but just travel safe and be cautious”.

She said she had heard “so many horror stories”.

Explaining one friend’s ordeal, she said a couple stopped for fuel, and with one person inside the car, a “kid came up to the window and tried to break in.”

“We’re being super cautious, and I have literally locked myself in the car,” she said.

“If you’re stopping anywhere, just be super careful”.

A major crime crackdown was announced in WA’s Kimberley region in 2022.

Operation regional Shield saw extra officers deployed to the region.

At the time, youth crime was up 54 per cent in the Kimberley, compared with the previous two years, the ABC reported.

Issue not isolated to WA: “Run of the town”

Country towns across NSW facing a youth crime crisis are being warned to act now and call for more to be done, before they end up the next Alice Springs.

Business owner Darren Clarke has been leading the push for awareness about the carnage unfolding in the Northern Territory city for many years, but particularly in the past 18 months as the problems have made national headlines.

Mr Clarke remembers a time when the city affectionately known just as “Alice” was bustling with tourists and there was no thought given to the possibility of your home or car being broken into.

NSW towns dealing with youth crime are being warned to not go down the same path as Alice Springs. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

That was only seven years ago.

Mr Clarke told The Daily Telegraph that as he watches countless Facebook groups of towns from Dubbo and Orange, to Moree and Kempsey, he worries about similarities to what he saw in Alice not long ago.

“I follow what’s going on in all these towns and what I notice is where these towns are at now and I know when we were like that, and now how bad it is,” he said.

“It gets worse really quick and once the kids know they can get away with things, they’ve got the run of the town.

“Alice is like a ghost town now, but only seven, eight or nine years ago, at night it would’ve been full of people.“You think you know where the problem is at, and then before you know it it’s out of control.

“So my message, and I guess my warning, to people is, you have got to stand up and not stay silent, you’ve got to go and meet with your local members, write letters and hold them to account, because you don’t want to lose your town.”