Residents still waiting for protection against antisocial behaviour

�Angry residents, promised security doors by the council to keep troublemakers from gathering in their flat block’s lobby, have been told they will have to wait another four months before they are installed.

Philip Hemmise has lead a campaign to improve the safety of his block in Campbell Road, Bow, which has been plagued by antisocial behaviour for eight years.

He says Tower Hamlets Homes, (THH) which manages the council’s homes, agreed earlier this year to install the system, but months later the frustrated residents are still waiting.

Timetable

Mr Hemmise, who is a housing manager for Haringey Council, claims groups of people in their late teens and early 20s, congregate in the lobby dealing hard drugs and intimidating residents.

He said: “They can get in from outside because unlike other nearby buildings, we don’t have any form of controlled entry system.”

THH told Mr Hemmise they would next week give him an installation date, to rectify this, but that it could take more than four months.

A THH spokesman said: “We have worked closely with the police and residents to develop a door entry system that will help prevent antisocial behaviour in the 175-191 Campbell Road block.

“On October 9 we contracted Open View, a specialist door entry system company with a proven track record, to install the door entry system. The installation will take 16 weeks to complete and will begin with a four-week measure and site setup. Residents will begin to see works taking place in early November.

“Next week we will have a full timetable of the works which we will share with residents.”

Mr Hemmise has to escort his wife down the stairs and says other residents, many of whom are older people, are “terrified”.

He said: “I used to go down and try to deal with these people, but after eight years you get fed up.

“The safer neighbourhoods team has tried to help us, but there’s only so much they can do.”