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Bad behaviour blights flats
Anti-social behaviour in an Ashford block of flats has become so bad that police have been given keycodes to get in and tackle loitering gangs of youths.
Residents of Dencliffe, in Church Road, have become so fed up with teenage gangs congregating in the stairwells of their block that they have given beat bobby PC Dave Lambert the code to get through their secure doors.
People in the flats above shops in the town's main street called police complaining of noise, graffiti and antisocial behaviour and some even suggested that drugs were being taken just feet from their front doors.
One mother who called police said she had been plagued by noise and intimidation from the teenagers and reached the end of her tether when she saw them apparently smoking cannabis one evening.
The woman, who did not want to be named through fears of recriminations, said: "At first it was just a couple of them hanging around outisde the back but then there were more and more of them and they started coming inside, making a racket and drinking.
"It can be a bit scary if you've got kids and you have to push past them just to get into your own home. You can't say anything to them because these days you don't know what they might do."
Police have been called to the building since they were given the keycodes and dispersed the youths but no arrests have been made and residents say they just gather again the next day.
Another resident added: "It seems to have helped the polic to deal with it by giving them the codes but it's a shame it has come to this."
Anyone with information should call Surrey Police on 0845 125 2222 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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