Tower block residents live in fear

Tower block residents reveal catalogue of problems, including machete gangs and people selling and using drugs on their streets

- THOMAS GEORGE

MACHETE-WIELDING gangs roaming the streets and brazen dealers peddling drugs in plain sight has become the sad reality of life for people living in a tower block.

Plagued by drug users 'shooting up' outside their flats and gangs with weapons running loose, fed-up tenants in Kingsbridge Court, Harpurhey, say they no longer feel safe in their own homes.

"They are dealing outside the building on an every day basis," said David Gardner, who has called Kingsbridge Court home for more than two decades.

"Some of the tenants have been accosted trying to run back from the shops." Mr Gardner said he recently phoned police to report a group of men wielding a machete outside the tower block, off Harpurhey Road.

He is not the only person who has had enough. Mr Gardner is one of several tenants who say they have repeatedly raised their concerns with Northwards Housing, which manages the block, but claim they have fallen on deaf ears.

"I know of a few tenants who have moved out because of various issues in the block," said Mr Gardner.

"We didn't have a front door for six months because somebody had broken it." A disabled resident, who gave his name as Mr Owen, said he no longer felt safe living in Kingsbridge Court.

He said he had witnessed drug users 'shoot up' in the stairwell and has previously discovered urine and faeces in the communal bin cupboard.

He also suspects one of his neighbours may be the victim of cuckooing - a process which involves gangs taking over the homes of vulnerable people to use as a base for drug dealing and other offences.