A SEASIDE town has become so blighted by crime that residents say they fear walking the streets at night due to “drug-taking zombies”.
New crime stats have revealed Blackpool is now one of the most dangerous places to live in England and Wales.
STEVE ALLENBlackpool is one of England and Wales’ most dangerous places to live[/caption]
STEVE ALLENA few minutes from Blackpool front flytipping at the back of houses in the ginnel[/caption]
STEVE ALLENAnnie Valentine has attempted to fight back[/caption]
The seaside resort has the sixth-highest crime rate with almost 22,000 crimes and 155 offences for every 1,000 people in the year ending September 2024 – the equivalent of one in six people being a victim of crime.
Only some London boroughs, Middlesbrough and Manchester have higher rates.
Data for community safety partnerships (CSP) also reveals Blackpool has the highest rate for violence and the second-highest for sex offences.
Some of the worst came areas are just a mile or so from the iconic Blackpool Tower and the town’s other glittering promenade attractions.
Taking to Tripadvisor, one visitor said: “I regularly visit Blackpool beach and promenade as it’s an amazing place for walks, the views are stunning.
“Sadly, the area itself seems to have taken a turn for the worse.
“Drugged up and drunk men walking round the town centre looking like zombies and teenagers drinking and blaring music on the prom.”
Annie Valentine, 57, has attempted to fight back against fly-tippers, drug-users, and shoplifters.
She was the target of thieves who tried to “hot-wire” her mobility scooter while it was parked outside her home.
“I don’t feel safe when I walk to the shops,” she admitted.
“And I haven’t even used my scooter this year. Crime is a constant worry.”
The retired chef’s daughter Amelia, 21, who works at a nearby shop, was once confronted by a man who threatened to “stab” her during a shift.
Annie says the shop is regularly plagued by shoplifters and she became so concerned that Amelia might be attacked she decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Amelia told me about one guy who had already been in three times to steal wine and had previously threatened staff,” Annie said.
“So I went to the shop one night and sure enough he came in about 9pm.
“He went straight over to wine grabbed a bottle.
“Two staff saw him and there was a scuffle, but as he went to leave I told him: ‘You’re not getting out.’
“He pushed past me and threatened to hit me with the bottle, so I clouted him with my walking frame.”
The man was later arrested but has since fled to Scotland, she said.
Another woman who was found cowering in the shop’s toilet is thought to have been a victim of sex-trafficking, Annie said.
STEVE ALLENAnnie with rubbish at the back of a house on Danesbury Place[/caption]
STEVE ALLENBeth Wells says her neighbourhood has become an ‘awful’ place to live[/caption]
STEVE ALLENResident Neil Beedham says: ‘I won’t go out at night’[/caption]
While in another alarming incident, her friend was randomly attacked as he walked to the railway station.
The frightening assault left him with a fractured jaw and a bleed on the brain.
Annie, along with her friend Brian Roberts, chair of community police liaison group the Brunswick PACT (Police and Community Together), met with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson in November.
Their discussion centred on the huge amount of unreported or under-investigated crime in some UK communities, including Blackpool.
“There’s a constant fear of crime in some parts of town,” Brian said.
“The police helicopter was up three times yesterday because of police pursuits and a stolen car ended up crashing into the front wall of a house before the driver ran off.”
Top 10 most violent cities in England and Wales
The stats below show the amount of reported violent crimes per 10,000 population based on data released by the ONS.
1) Blackpool (769.7)
2) Middlesbrough (657.6)
3) Thanet (621.5)
4) Birmingham (618.2)
5) Bradford (612.3)
6) Wolverhampton (612.2)
7) Denbighshire (603.9)
8) Manchester (595.9)
9) Southampton (588.7)
10) Portsmouth (583.9)
One pursuit involved a teenage suspect who dangerously led officers on a hour-long chase trough the town.
“E-bikes are a big problem,” admits Brian. “But drugs are the worst issue because so many other crimes are drug-related.”
“I know of four ‘grow’ houses (cannabis farms) that have recently been shut down.”
Neil Beedham, 73, who has lived in the town for 40 years, said: “I won’t go out at night. There’s alway some sort of trouble.
“And we need more police on the ground to stop it.
“Where I live used to be nice, there were rows of lovely guest-houses, but a lot of properties have been bought up by out-of-town landlords and fallen into disrepair. It’s really gone downhill.”
Over the road from Neil’s house, the Morrison’s store has been raided twice in three months while signs on lampposts warn that mobile CCTV operates in the area for “crime prevention and public safety”.
A council ‘Reassurance Plus’ office has a ‘Say No to Knife Crime’ poster in the widow as well as knife surrender bin outside.
Young mum Beth Wells, 27, who has a three-year-old daughter, says her neighbourhood has become an “awful” place to live.
“There’s lads dressed in hoodies and balaclavas whizzing around on e-bikes all the time.
“It’s so bad I don’t bother going out at night. I just don’t feel safe on the streets.”
She added the Morrison’s had been “robbed so many times” she was surprised it was still open.
Lancashire Police was contacted for comment.
STEVE ALLENBin the Knife bin on Egerton Road[/caption]
STEVE ALLENBoarded up homes in Blackpool[/caption]
STEVE ALLENA view of Egerton Road[/caption]
STEVE ALLENBeth and her three-year-old daughter Arla-Rose[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
