“Intimidated” residents have spoken about living in a neighbourhood where yobs often leave syringes and condoms strewn across the street.
Locals in the Fishwick area of Preston, Lancashire, have reportedly become sick and tired of seeing yobs openly urinating in public places, drinking and taking drugs.
Here, unwanted mattresses and rubbish are often left abandoned, with fly-tipping a real concern, a report has claimed.
Gemima Awake, 25, told The Sun: “Rubbish is always being dumped in the street.
“And I’ve seen people standing under a bridge drinking and sometimes doing drugs. It can be intimidating when you walk past.”
Melissa Somers, who has a nine-month-old baby girl, said the problems have turned the area into a “s***hole”.
“Too many young people are getting into trouble,” she claimed.
Fellow local Iffat Ayub said: “Sometimes I see groups of men sitting down on a wall near my home.”
One couple, whose Christmas wreath was stolen, claimed their bins are often kicked over, and they “can’t leave anything outside their home because it will just get nicked”.
The situation has become so dire that a set of drastic measures could soon be implemented in a bid to clean up the area.
To crack down on the surge of anti-social behaviour, drinking on the streets could be banned.
To further combat anti-social behaviour, such as window smashing, Preston Council could decide to implement a public spaces protection (PSPO).
Introduced in 2014, PSPO’s are designed to tackle a wide-range of antisocial behaviour that affects reseident’s quality of life and can be enforced by the police or city council officers.
A Preston Council spokesperson said: “The matter went before Cabinet as it is a significant decision relating to implementation of legal powers which if implemented will affect people within in two wards.
“The PSPO is being considered due to the nature and number of complaints regarding anti-social behaviour.
“The PSPO consideration is a measure which members of the public and their representatives have requested to address some types of anti-social behaviour.”
