RESIDENTS of a suburb voted Britain’s roughest say crazed youths are tearing apart pigeons and making locals feel like they’re in “war-torn Ukraine”.
Knife-wielding 10-year-olds have been roaming the streets wreaking havoc in the West Midlands for the past three years, some say.
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Blakenall Heath is like ‘war-torn Ukraine’ where bandits pluck pigeons Credit: SWNS
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Residents claim police cars were pelted with bricks on Blakenall Heath, WalsallCredit: SWNS
The misery in Blakenall Heath, Walsall, has seen the area become a “no-go zone” for police as their police vehicles have been pelted with bricks.
Last August, a 13-year-old boy was also left permanently blind after being stabbed in the eye outside a fish and chip shop.
One local resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It got to the point where we we are afraid to leave our homes even during the day.
“The place has just quickly fallen into a near state of lawlessness since the pandemic.
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“Before that, we did have problems, but not on the scale we see now. Sometimes it’s like a war zone out there.
“It’s diabolical—but that’s Blakenall for you. You just don’t go out after 3 p.m.”
That area was the focus of a recent YouTube video in which a presenter discovered a flattened dead rat in a children’s playground.
The UK Explored channel, which offers tours of cities and towns across the country, said of the property: “The moment I walked into Dawson Street the woman said to me ‘Leave it.’
“I felt dangerous, it smelled dangerous and I was happy to move on.”
With more than 400 crimes per month, according to UKCrimeStats, the presenter said Blakenall Heath was “certainly one of the most dangerous estates in the country”.
Local resident Andy Bloxham, 38, said the video made the area look worse than it is.
But he warned: “There’s no denying it’s as rough as anything else.
“If anything, these gangs see being named the roughest property in Britain as a badge of honour.”
Locals have previously said that their lives are marred by violence and anti-social behaviour.
A series of incidents followed, including arson, fly-tipping, thefts, assaults, racist attacks and vandalism.
One shopkeeper added: “They come and steal eggs, and then they shoot the shop with those eggs.
“And they insult us on a racial basis, we’ve had enough.”
Independent Blakenall district councilor Pete Smith previously said it was “like something out of war-torn Ukraine”.
He added: “There was also one poor pigeon that had its head ripped off outside the shop before they ripped its wings off and just dismembered it.”
West Midlands Police issued a 48-hour evacuation order for Blakenall after violence broke out on November 2 and youths threw bricks at police vehicles.
In July, a man was stabbed in nearby Bloxwich and Bailey Atkinson, also from the area, was stabbed to death in Walsall in January.
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Locals have previously said their lives have been blighted by violence and anti-social behaviorCredit: SWNS
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A 13-year-old boy was also left permanently blind after being stabbed in the eye outside a fish and chip shop in Blakenall last AugustCredit: SWNS
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One local resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It has got to the point where we are afraid to leave our homes even during the day’Credit: SWNS
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Source: HIS Education