FROM her lounge window, Sarah Roberts' panoramic view of Swansea Bay on a clear day is spectacular.

But the sights and sounds offered inside the block of flats where she lives with her toddler are just plain ugly.

Most mornings, Sarah has to sidestep broken bottles, needles and even human excrement as she makes her way down the stairs from her fourth floor flat in the Penlan district of the south Wales city.

She could take the lift, but it will stink of urine and vomit from the previous night's abuse of one of Swansea's showpiece council blocks, Jeffrey's Court – a modern, attractive eight-storey building flooded with light and home to 100 tenants.

But like Sarah, their lives are blighted by the nightly influx of drug-users seeking warmth, shelter and a quiet corner of a stairwell where they can drink vodka and shoot up.

The druggies used to smash their way in through the block's main entrance, but the council stopped replacing the glass last year and now it is left wide open day and night.

Morning light reveals heroin needles, empty bottles of vodka, beer cans and cigarette butts littering the communal stairways and recesses.

Faeces is also commonplace and the air is still thick with the smell of weed.

Sarah, 24, lives in her two-bed flat with her two-year-old daughter.

She is expecting a second child in 10 weeks and has repeatedly begged Swansea council to move her to new accommodation for more than a year because she feels "terrified all the time".

Most read in The Sun

She sobbed: "When I first moved here with my daughter two years ago, it was a lovely place to live.

"It's new and there's so much light everywhere. And of course the views are breathtaking.

"But our lives are being ruined by these idiots who come here every night to do smack, get drunk off their faces and make noise.

"Some of them use the stairwells like a toilet and even sleep on the stairs overnight.

"At first light, they're gone and the council cleaners arrive to try and clean the mess up.

"But you can still smell the weed and on a bad day you'll smell excrement and urine.

"The druggies have literally turned this place into a s***hole."

Sarah said that last week cops raided the block to break up a knife fight on the floor above her.

I feel scared and stressed all the time and I'm worried sick for my daughter and unborn child.

"It's terrifying living here," she said. "I feel scared and stressed all the time and I'm worried sick for my daughter and unborn child.

"What kind of a childhood are they going to be having here?

"I don't want my kids having to be exposed to this every day."

In a nearby flat, personal trainer Radoslaw Klepsczraek's athletic frame almost fills his doorway.

And yet even this muscular, towering man lives in terror of what night brings to the home he shares with his girlfriend and their six-year-old daughter.

He said: "I don't feel safe here at night. I won't let my girlfriend go down the stairs on her own when night comes. It's just too dangerous.

"She also has to put up with men saying things to her that I don't want to repeat here.

"I've seen empty bottles of vodka, beer cans, syringes, faeces, vomit, just about everything you can imagine on the stairways and even in the lift too.

'ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING'

"It's absolutely disgusting. These are supposed to be pleasant, communal areas for people that live here so we can move around the building indoors and outdoors safely and quietly.

"But these spaces have become no-go areas after dark. It's just not safe.

"The noise is awful too. It makes it hard to sleep and you can't relax.

"The people using the communal stairs are from outside. They don't live here.

"The drug dealers meet them nearby, maybe even inside the building, and the users inject it or smoke it until they pass out on the stairs.

"Most nights, arguments and fights break out and there's always a lot of shouting."

He continued: "The main front door was smashed in several times last year but it hasn't been fixed since the last time it happened.

"Maybe the council have decided there's no point because it will just get smashed in again next time they want to come in.

"It is such a shame because it would otherwise be a good place to live, but right now it just feels stressful and many people living here are scared."

Other Jeffrey's Court residents said they have seen blood spattered on the walls in the stairways and communal landings.

When Sun Online journalists visited the block this week, the white walls had been repainted very recently and signs had been put up to warn people they were still wet.

As well as the smell of cannabis, there was also a stench of disinfectant.

One tenant, who asked not to be identified, said she has to carry her dog in and out because she doesn't want him to injure his paws on fragments of glass.

She added: "I suffer with PTSD because of domestic violence in a previous relationship and some nights I get no sleep because of glass smashing or arguing and banging around and it gives me really bad anxiety attacks.

"Just this week, three people came into the flats, started drinking and smoking and left when they'd finished – none of them lived here or seemed to know anyone who did.

"These are grown men. This happens all the time.

"I won't go out after dark because of it, it's like I'm trapped in my flat."

LIVING IN FEAR

Jeffrey's Court underwent a £5m refurbishment in 2016, a council spokesperson said. 

But despite the renovation, vandalism remains rife.

Someone has burned 'smack head' into a fire extinguisher and plasterwork on the hallway walls has been smashed off in parts.

Residents also cite a rodent problem at the block.

One tenant said: "We have a bad a rat problem. Just the other night I was trapped outside the main doors because of the rats.

"There is just so much rubbish at the front I'm not surprised.

"When it snowed the other week, you could see a little trail of rat footprints running across from the wall behind the block to the flats.

"I often get woken up at 3/4am to people banging on my door trying to get in my flat.

"I have two kids who can't stay here with me because its just not safe for them. It breaks my heart."

Another resident said: "I feel sorry for the cleaners they send. They have to clean up all kinds of horrible mess.

"The stairs are the worst, if you look at the side of them, there's remnants of sick, urine, dog hair, human hair, you name it."

I have two kids who can't stay here with me because its just not safe for them. It breaks my heart.

A spokesperson for Swansea Council said: "(The) £5m refurbishment in 2016 included a full external upgrade along with new kitchens and bathrooms for tenants living in the complex.

"Further upgrades have also been completed to improve fire safety, including the installation of new fire doors and a new sprinkler system.

"Issues raised such as problems with lifts, where vandalism has occurred, are also being dealt with and a new lift has recently been installed.

"The security voice entry doors have been a constant target of vandals since installation and multiple repairs undertaken to maintain their operation.

"It is frustrating to have to continue to deal with instances of vandalism following such a significant investment to provide high quality residential accommodation in Penlan.

"We are also aware of ongoing anti-social behaviour in the building and are working hard with local police to tackle the problem and we have daily patrols in place along with out of hours patrols to reassure residents.

"The building is also cleaned on a daily basis."

A community engagement event was held in November for tenants to voice their concerns, with council services, the police and fire service present.

Residents have since received a letter and questionnaire asking them to detail their experience of anti-social behaviour.

Local Police Inspector Simon Trick said: "We are aware of ongoing issues at Jeffrey’s Court and we have responded to concerns.

"We take all reports of anti-social behaviour in the area seriously and are taking a robust approach towards this unacceptable behaviour which impacts on those living in the area.

"We have been working closely with the local council to explore the best approach in rectifying some of the issues."

Source: Read Full Article