I'm not sure about the UK,but in Australia it depends on who & what area
Again I'm stereotyping , if I saw say Aboriginal youths in their teens walking towards me I would be nervous ,have I had problems in the past with Aboriginal youths ? ,not really, but it's the stereotyping ,and news I hear , my mind would be saying this is high risk , maybe it's wouldn't be , but it would be far different if I was walking past say Asian youths,I wouldn't be concerned, that's how psychology works your mind ,telling you to show caution based on what you hear in your mind , your mind is telling you to do a quick risk assessment based on race , type of clothing ,body language,age etc before they even walk past you and I admit I am cautious and if need be I cross the road to avoid problems
Now recently I finished work late at midnight I was about to walk into a 711 I saw about 10 or more young Aboriginal youths including girls inside aged about 12yo baseball caps back to front I didn't go in .
That's could be considered stereotyping but at midnight to see such young ages I took a risk assessment ,and my mind said better to avoid just in case