Residents ‘embarrassed’ by drugs and anti-social behaviour in Gloucester block of flats
Watch Ken Goodwin's report
People living in a Gloucester housing complex say they are fed up with intruders, drug-taking, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.
The seventy-flat complex in Bedford Street is a well-known spot for anti-social behaviour.
Residents say they can’t even open their windows in the hot weather because of the noise and the smell of drugs.
One resident, Peter Dunn, claims that people get into the flat’s communal areas at night to engage in loud anti-social behaviour, drug taking and drinking.
His partner is expecting a baby, and because of the disruption, they’re getting very little sleep.
“There are people under the archway, there’s people that fly-tip, people that do drug dealing underneath the car park, there’s people sitting over there doing crack cocaine cooking it on the doorstep,” he said.
“You can see people in the windows injecting, smoking crack in the corridors, they are in the building they’ve managed to get in from different angles. Some of the doors are broken from where people have forced them.”
Resident Jenna Cook, who has a toddler, says that the hot weather brings additional challenges.
She is unable to open windows to cool off during the night, as the noise would wake up both her and her child. Jenna also says she has seen blood spattered up the wall after people tried to inject drugs.
“My son has been woken up numerous times,” she said.
She claims the rubbish and the stench is too embarrassing to invite friends around.
“We’ve got Charlie the rat,” she said. “He’s a very big rat out there. You can’t go to the bins without seeing rats.”
The landlords of the flats on Bedford Street, The Guinness partnership, say they are committed to working with the police and council to deal with the issue.
In a statement, they said: "We are aware of longstanding issues, with fly-tipping, with anti-social behaviour and with street crime.
"We appreciate how difficult the situation is for our residents."
They say improvements are being made to security for the block and the area where the rubbish is kept is being cleaned more regularly.
Police statement
In a statement, Gloucestershire Police have said “We are aware of the issues raised by residents and the concern this is causing them.
“In recent weeks our officers did a visit to the site to review the security, and we have passed on our observations and recommendations to The Guinness Partnership.
“We will continue to work with local residents and the housing provider to address these matters.”