Youngsters banging doors and running off continues on Moreton Hall, Bury St Edmunds, with one home suffering damage
An estate resident said vandalism to the door to his home had been ‘the final straw’ and the couple are now looking to move.
The man, 57, lives in Sebert Road, on Bury St Edmunds’ Moreton Hall estate, and spoke to SuffolkNews about his experiences of anti-social behaviour there.
The Moreton Hall Residents’ Association (MHRA) wants a collaborative approach, working with those including the police, councils and schools, to prevent anti-social behaviour, vandalism and littering on the estate following recent reports.
The man was in bed and about to go to sleep on Wednesday, June 11, when at about 10.20pm there was a ‘proper kick’ to his door and what he believes must have been a punch to make the hole.
“It just makes your heart pump,” he said. “You know exactly what it is, but there’s nothing you can do really.”
The couple, who have lived there for 27 years, have reported it to the police. They did not see the culprits this time, but in the past it was youngsters who were banging on the door and running off.
There has been a history of ‘knock a door’ on the estate, involving young people banging on doors and then running away.
The man said: “We are looking now to get out. It doesn’t happen all the time, it’s not a regular thing, but over the past two years it’s got worse.”
He said last week’s damage – which could cost up to £500 to repair – was the ‘final straw’ for him and his wife. “It just gets to you,” he added. “It’s been quite stressful actually.”
A Moreton Hall resident, of Blackbird Drive, managed to capture a young person on her video doorbell last month after hearing a ‘thump’ on her door and then half an hour later a kick.
The woman, 67, said her husband managed to speak with the youngster, who apologised, but ‘obviously it meant nothing’ as he had carried on with his behaviour on the estate. The footage has been passed on to the police.
And in March there was a ‘scary’ instance – which prompted getting the video doorbell – when she was at home alone and there was an ‘almighty bang’. It was that loud, she thought her gas fire had exploded. After posting on the community Facebook page about it, she now believes someone had kicked her door.
The woman said: “They are probably bored and have got nothing to do I suppose, but there’s lots of kids who don’t go around behaving like that.”
She said parents needed to ‘deal with their children and not make excuses for them’.
Andy McGowan, vice-chair of MHRA, has himself experienced youngsters banging his door and running off, including an incident two weeks ago.
Speaking of what happened at his home in Mortimer Road, he said there was a ‘massive smack’ on his door at about 7pm and he saw the young people run off.
“For me, it’s annoying, but for my children it’s terrifying,” said Mr McGowan, who has three children under the age of seven.
He confronted the secondary school boys and one actually apologised to him and they shook hands.
“We are looking at how we can prevent this rather than vilify the kids,” he said. “It’s a minority of people doing it, but it’s having a big impact.”
However, he said when young people who had been smacking on doors and screaming profanities and racial slurs in Daisy Avenue last month were confronted by residents, it didn’t go well, with the youngsters repeatedly swearing and laughing at them. It is understood this was reported to police.
Meanwhile, the high rope swings are still out of action at the Flying Fortress park following vandalism, and at Daisy Avenue park a flat seat swing is missing due to deliberate damage.
There have also been reports that two children cut themselves on broken glass at Flying Fortress park over the weekend.
Mr McGowan said with the warmer weather and particularly the summer holidays approaching, when the issues may increase, he wanted to see whether people could come together to discuss how to reduce the chances of such problems.
He said: “We are all part of the same community and we want the best place for people to live.”
A spokesman for West Suffolk Council said they appreciated people’s frustration at play equipment being out of action at this time of year, but couldn’t give timescales for all of the various works as they depended on deliveries.
“We are looking to replace the various bits as quickly as we possibly can”, they said.
The spokesman added that some of the damage to play equipment was actually through use, rather than vandalism, such as the basket swing at Flying Fortress park.
Regarding the broken glass and litter at Flying Fortress park, they said they had not been made aware of this, but they carry out a weekly safety inspection and if they see broken glass they clear it up.
“That said, we would like to thank local residents for their efforts to clean up litter so the play area can be used safely by children,” they said.
“We obviously cannot be there all the time so the work of local residents to protect the safety of children using the play area and keep the area as clean as possible, is very much appreciated.”
The spokesman added that fence damage by Flying Fortress park was caused by people short cutting/climbing over at a particular point. And while the council would replace this, it is looking to do so with something more robust.
A police spokesman said the Bury Community Policing Team was liaising with specialist officers over issues including broken glass at the play park and officers were aware of other issues such as littering.
♦ If anyone has information about the vandalism in Sebert Road on June 11 contact police quoting crime number 37/31771/25. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were no arrests.
A Suffolk Police spokesman said they were aware of and collating details of other incidents that were reported to police involving doors being knocked. “Any other incidents or information should be passed on to police,” they said.
And Bury Community Policing Team is currently investigating an incident involving a public order offence (profanities being shouted/screamed).
