Peterborough residents feel forced to leave area in face of overwhelming anti-social behaviour in car park

Residents in Peterborough have spoken of their hell living next to a car park that has become an anti-social behaviour hotspot.

Residents in Figtree Walk, in Dogsthorpe have been tormented for the past two years by large groups of youth and men that have been using the car park in an anti-social way.

Among the long list of complaints from residents have been dangerous driving, noise late into the night, drug use and dealing, damage to cars and properties, sexual acts being performed in the presence of children, street drinking.

The car park in question, located right at the bottom of Figtree Walk is owned by Cross Keys.

Many residents have told the Peterborough Telegraph that they have reached the end of their tether with living next to such a hive of anti-social behaviour and are considering leaving the area.

Frustration has also grown due to what residents have called a lack of action from police and the landowner.

One resident, said: “I don’t come out here anymore.

"I’ve had grief since the day I moved here. They’re using the car park as a fly-tipping area on top of everything else.

“I have put in for a move. I’ll move anywhere at the minute, it’s just so frustrating all that’s going on here at the moment.

"I won’t even sleep in my bedroom at the back of the house since it all started happening. I picked all my things up and moved it into my living room. I won’t sleep in my bedroom, I’m too frightened to.”

Another resident described the continuing situation facing residents.

She said: “As cars are driving in, they are treating it as a race track. They are climbing up to 60mph. We had one car chasing a man on a bike down here; speeding down the street, driving on the grass, they were trying to run him over.

“They’ve crashed into the walls in cars that are untaxed, uninsured and they’ve got cloned plates and what we’re all sure are underaged drivers. We’ve seen drivers going on the pavements. It’s just non-stop down here.

“The person who smashed into the wall came back three times to check that he had left no evidence behind.

“If your car goes in the car park, it gets damaged. One car had its plates taken off. It seems the more we report this to Cross Keys or the Police, the less is done.

“Sometimes it goes quiet for a few days but once it gets going again, it’s really bad. Sometimes it can be as early as 2 in the afternoon and they don’t finish until around two in the morning.

"We’ve seen them shooting each other and properties with BB guns as well.

“We’ve been told by the police, ‘oh they’ll go by the camera eventually but we say, is that before or after they hurt somebody?

"It’s not safe, all of it. All you hear is them breaking glass at night and making threatening phone calls.

“We’ve even had a car dealer down here selling cars using our addresses to give to customers. We’ve had people knocking at our doors accusing us of scamming us out of a car and we’ve got to try and prove that it wasn’t us.

“We’ve asked about cameras and lights because at night, it’s pitch black in here. There’s been times I’ve had to park there and I’ve driven in and there’s ten faces of men just looking at you and it’s really intimidating.

“It’s been suggested to us by police that we block the entrance but what if they crash into us? That would be our fault then.

“Sooner or later they are going to kill someone and I don’t want that on my conscience if the police aren’t able to do anything. Part of me wants to give up but part of me can’t let myself in case someone gets seriously hurt or killed.

“The street is lovely to live down, it’s just this car park.”

Former Dogsthorpe ward councillor and resident Ishfaq Hussain has previously pushed for the instillation of cameras and gates to try and improve the state of the area but not such measures have been forthcoming.

He said: “A year ago, we had a meeting of local officers and they initially did some patrols in the evening but it was at times they weren’t here. Since then, those issues have just got worse.

When the wall was smashed, residents were afraid to even come out and say anything to them because of the aggression shown by these people.

“I have asked for cameras and a gate to be put in or even a dummy camera to deter them. There’s been a couple of times I’ve approached them.

“A couple of months ago I approached a car with four people in it who I knew didn’t have a licence but I couldn’t take their car keys without being accused of trying to steal their car.

“There’s been cases of voyeurism too and making out right in front of children in the daylight. There’s been people with their trousers down relieving themselves in the middle of the afternoon, not a care in the world.”

The Peterborough Telegraph has contacted Cambridgeshire Police and Cross Keys Homes for comment.