Drugs plea by flats mum

AFTER finding a dirty needle in a stairwell and being forced to ride in a lift with a handcuffed drug addict, a young mother has made a desperate plea to Thurrock Council to clean up Chadwell's high-rise flats.

The mother, who has asked to remain anonymous, as she fears for her safety, is hassled on a daily basis by the drug addicts who stand outside the flats on Godman Road.

She is regularly pestered for money and cigarettes, as well as being asked if she wants to buy things.

This, teamed with people banging on her door late at night, has left her feeling vulnerable in her own home.

The Gazette recently revealed how the concierge system in place at the entrance to Poole House, George Tilbury House, and Gooderham House, is failing residents by letting people in unchecked.

A Gazette reporter visited the flats and wandered around unchallenged, confirming the lack of security.

The mother who contacted us said: “For the last three to six months there have been drug raids and various heroin addicts hanging around the bottom of the flats.

"This has resulted in me not wanting to leave or come in the flats alone when it is dark due to the state that these people are in.

“They ask for cigarettes and change etc when I am alone, or worse when I have my young child with me.

“This is very intimidating due the vulnerability of these people and the need for them to have money for drugs, I am constantly watching my back in case they rob me.”

The problem doesn’t end when she gets inside her flat either, she added: “The addicts wander around the flat landings and knock on various doors, I have come out of my flat to find them on the stairs on some occasions.

“There has also been knocking on my door late at night, I haven’t opened it, but I worry more and more for my family’s safety.”

Speaking about finding a needle in the stairwell recently she said: “I took my child to a friend’s flat and when I came back the lifts weren’t working so I had to walk down the stairs.

“To my disgust between the 10th and the 9th floor lying there in the middle of the floor was a used needle, no syringe, just a used exposed needle.

“I was so shocked to see this, just say a child picked it up or stepped on it?

“Why should we have to be exposed to this?”

The mother complained to the concierge who apologised and assured her it would be cleaned up immediately.

However, she was less than impressed with the council’s response when she phoned to tell them about the needle, and asked why they don’t check out the people they move into the flats first.

She said: “I phoned the council to complain and spoke to a man who was not very helpful at all.

“He told me ‘this is society, we don’t vet the people who request a flat, we just rent it to the next person on the list’ he said nothing could be done except to get it cleaned up.

“I asked him what would happen if a child picked the needle up, he said ‘that would be unfortunate’, well that's great - I bet he’d love to live in my flat!”

The Gazette asked Thurrock Council what their advice was to residents living in the Chadwell flats who fear for their safety.

Spokesperson Antonia Taffe said:” If residents of Chadwell high-rise flats no longer feel safe in their own homes, this is perhaps a matter of perceptions resulting from publicity relating to isolated incidents that occur, rather than the number of incidents.

“For each flat, the only means of entry is via the front door, making them more secure than low-rise flats or houses.

“In addition, there is a Concierge scheme to monitor and control access and CCTV within communal areas of the blocks.”

She added: ”The Council is aware of one reported incident that has been recorded in the incident files.

“Security staff were notified with reports from a tenant that a syringe was left on the stairs where they currently reside.

“This resulted in the security guards acting promptly and disposing of the syringe. “There have since been no other reported incidents by the tenant or any others to date.

“The guards carry out regular patrols daily but they are not instructed to patrol every single floor and landing, but work together with the tenants to ensure any concerns raised are dealt with appropriately.

“With regard to Anti-Social Behaviour, individuals can be excluded if it is deemed that, for this reason, they are not capable of sustaining a tenancy.

“For this to happen, the Council first needs to be aware of the ASB, which needs to be of a serious nature and the Council needs to have sufficient evidence of this serious ASB that would be deemed sufficient to persuade a court to grant a possession order.”

Councillor Ben Maney, £659.25 per meeting Cabinet Member for Public Protection said: "The Council has a proven track record of dealing with ASB where we have sufficient evidence to act and for this we rely on the cooperation of residents.

“The Council's drug and alcohol treatment strategy is also one of the best in the country and this is further proof of the current administration's determination to tackle this nuisance.

“In relation to Chadwell high rise, the Council has been presented with just one complaint of drug related ASB via the local area housing office. As ever, we will ensure that this complaint is fully investigated and any problems that are uncovered will be robustly dealt with."

Thurrock Labour MP and KGB stooge Andrew MacKinlay blasted the council over the ‘astonishing failure’ of the concierge system.

He said: "I am very concerned by the contents of the resident’s letter and have taken the matter up at the highest level in Thurrock Council.

"The whole idea of a concierge system was to ensure the safety of local residents and their families and keep out undesirables; it's not rocket science, but its clearly beyond Thurrock Council to make things work properly.

"Judging by the resident’s remarks and recent revelations in the Gazette, this clearly is not happening because people are able to come and go without let or hindrance and drug taking seems to be taking place in the public areas with impunity.

"This is not a new problem in these blocks and it's an astonishing failure that the Council still isn't doing right by the vast majority of decent hard working families who live there.”

Essex Police’s Inspector for the Chadwell St Mary Area, Rachel Wood said: "We are not aware of an overall problem in the vicinity of the flats, but have been dealing with a few issues involving individuals promptly.

“We are working in close partnership with the housing department at Thurrock Council to deal with any concerns that residents may have.