Featherstone locals say they are fed up with how rundown the village has gotten (Image: SWNS)
Locals have slammed their own village as the “grimmest” in the UK which is covered in rubbish and dog poo and is overrun with drug dealers. Featherstone in south Staffordshire is surrounded by three prisons but residents say the inmates are the lucky ones.
Villagers say they’re used to seeing alcoholics and drug-users collapsing in the street with many people saying they fear going out after dark.
The village’s historic pub, the Red, White and Blue, was closed and remains bordered up with smashed windows and surrounded by security fences.
Rubbish is strewn on pavements and blows into gardens, while houses are literally left to crumble.
Locals say inmates in nearby prisons have it better (Image: SWNS)
Potholes plague the local roads (Image: SWNS)
One derelict semi-detached house on Cannock Road appears to have been cut clean in half with the upstairs bedroom at the mercy of the weather.
A newly built bus shelter was recently set on fire, while residents complain of increasing numbers of potholes appearing in the roads.
Life-long resident Dean Proffitt, 62, said: “I often say that this would be a nice place to live if it wasn’t for the drunks and the smack heads.”
“They are everywhere and it’s upsetting to see.”
“I’ve lived here on and off for years and it’s certainly got worse. There’s rubbish everywhere and people spewing up everywhere.
“There’s no point telling the police because they won’t do anything about it.”
Rachel Canning, 51, blames the council for failing to keep the village clean.
She said: “It doesn’t look as if the council come out enough to cut the grassed areas anymore, clean up the litter or empty the dog mess bins.”
Flytipping is also a huge issue (Image: SWNS)
“The dog bins are full up and there is dog poo all over the village.
“I don’t know if they are people coming into the village or people who live here who have just given up.
“You’ll go into the next village Shareshill and it’s beautiful. It’s looked after, it’s a shame ours isn’t.
“The state of our village is awful, there’s drug abuse, people picking up and selling drugs. It’s atrocious.”
A bus stop lies burnt out (Image: SWNS)
“I understand it happens everywhere but it’s really bad here. You’re frightened to walk your dog at night.
“We had our van stolen off our drive. There are constant break-ins and always people checking doors and car handles but the police are not interested.”
Dave Bethell, 74, said: “For a start the pub’s closed so we don’t have a pub in the village.
“I’ve heard the council is going to knock it down and build another supermarket.
Buildings sit derelict (Image: SWNS)
“There’s drugs everywhere.”
Pensioner Alex Tenn, 73, said: “There was supposed to be a bypass built but it never was.
“As a result big lorries come down past people’s houses causing constant noise. It’s stressful for people.”
Another resident said: “On the whole, the people are friendly but the place looks and feels really down.”
Villagers say they’re used to seeing alcoholics and drug-users collapsing in the street (Image: SWNS)
“It needs a good clear out. Outside my house is a car bonnet and bumper which have been there for three weeks now.
“It was just left there on the path and no one’s moved it. I moved here from Nottingham last November but I wish I’d never moved here.
“It just seems unloved, people aren’t taking a pride in the area.”
Villagers say they’re used to seeing alcoholics and drug-users collapsing in the street
Locals say the town ‘needs a good clear out’ (Image: SWNS)
“The only reason I wanted to move here was because I thought Featherstone was a nice name for a place but I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Shopworker Thomas Rowe, 30, said: “It’s a bit of a joke among the locals that the inmates in the prisons nearby are luckier than us.
“When they look out of their barred windows they probably feel quite sorry for us because our lives are worse than theirs.
“Featherstone is not just a dump, it’s died on it’s a*se. I think that’s why people are depressed because the majority of people here are decent folk.”
Despite having a population of more than 4,000, Featherstone is still known as a village (Image: SWNS)
Villagers say no one is taking pride in where they live (Image: SWNS)
“It’s just so sad to see the village turning into a druggie s***hole before your eyes when it always used to be a close-knit community.”
Despite having a population of more than 4,000, Featherstone is still known as a village.
In the 1920s a new mine was opened which saw the population rise from just 39 residents to more than 3,000 a few years later.
Since January this year there have been 39 violent and sexual offences, 13 vehicle crimes, six thefts and five case of criminal damage and arson.
