Rats and litter blight 'best street in Britain'

Shocking decline in award-winning village over half a century

- CHARLIE FENTON

A VILLAGE street once named the best in Britain is now blighted by rats, litter and antisocial behaviour.

Half a century ago, Goldthorpe, in Barnsley, South Yorks, was a thriving community full of proud residents.

And in October 1971, the village's Main Street was named Britain's best road by the Daily Mirror.

For decades, families worked in the four local coal pits and enjoyed visiting the bustling high street.

But by 1994 the pits had all closed and the area “lost its heart” and slowly fell apart.

Its once neat and tidy pavements are now scattered with litter and, according to locals, rats are now often seen scurrying around.

Houses and shops are boarded up, with smashed glass on the ground.

One resident, Joanne Tate, 54, has been in the area for the past 49 years and said she is now “fed up” with living in the village of which she was once so proud. The housekeeper said: “Going back years it used to be busy, we had lots of shops and markets, but now it is just all rundown houses. There are a lot of people doing drugs, knife crime goes on... It’s not good.”