Gangville and Caius?

Trainers hung on overhead wires have been spotted across Cambridge.

Gangs in Los Angeles, USA have been known to warn rival crews off their turf, or display respect for a deceased member, using shoe-hanging as a symbol.

Or silly fad? Cambridge police admit they have no idea what the shoes signify

This has now spread to areas in Cambridge – one being Darwin Drive, Arbury.

A resident who wished to remain anonymous said: “There is a lot of drug dealing going on around this area and groups of youngsters. We all know they put the trainers over the wire to let people know drugs are being sold.”

The police urged concerned residents to call them with information regarding drug crime but couldn’t tell The Tab how many residents had contacted them.

Sighted at Harvey Court, Caius: students doing laundry, or impending turf warfare?

A contributor on a local Facebook page discussing the issue suggested that the Ditton Fields area in Abbey was a known drugs hotspot.

The Tab contacted the Cambridgeshire Constabulary who stuck by an earlier statement that “There is nothing to suggest they [the shoes] are linked to drug dealing or ‘gangs’.”

The police did, however, refer us to their official statistics. Drug crime in the Arbury ward has increased between February and March 2014, and drug crime from the beginning of 2014 is up compared to the average over the last 10 months. Total crime in Arbury has also slightly increased over the last 12 months.

Shoes hung on wires in Caius have also been spotted, along with suspicious looking individuals wearing gowns. It remains to be seen whether the phenomenon will spread.

A first-year at Caius remarked: “With economic conditions like they are it must be hard [for drug dealers]. We should try walking a mile in their shoes… but you’d have to get them down first.”

Are these shoes a sinister sign of crime to come? Will King’s Parade be the new Sunset Boulevard?