‘Drugs, drinking and three or four ladies and men lying down’... neighbours tell of car park misery
living next to a car park in Derby say their back gardens look out on to rubbish, used needles, and faeces.
Charlotte Street Car Park which sits directly behind Church Street, in Normanton, is a hotspot for flytipping as well as drugs and prostitution, residents say.
Church Street complainants did not wish to be named but one even sent CCTV footage to the Derby Telegraph of a man defecating directly outside his home.
He said: “I have lived here for 27 years, so all of my life. The car park has been this way for, I would say, seven years. My childhood memory is that it has always been a car park, it has just never been as bad as it is now.
“The problem that we are having is that a lot of people are coming over to fly-tip, a lot of businesses and there are a lot of people who are coming from near Charlotte Street just to fly-tip. There’s no spotlights at night time so it is literally pitch black.
“There’s a problem [with] prostitution, in literally broad daylight you will see a woman will be lying on the floor and obviously you know what’s happening.”
Another issue, the resident said is the location’s proximity to shops selling alcohol which he says encourages day drinking.
“What we are getting is, a lot of people going there to buy alcohol and they are literally drinking all day. Then another issue that we are having is that when they have been drinking in excess, they are urinating in broad daylight on the side of my property, and, believe it or not, I have seen three or four people do a number two.”
One local said that everyone should take a stand, describing Normanton as a fantastic multicultural area that needs to be kept clean. Another resident said that she can no longer open her back gate because of the amount of rubbish blocking it.
She said: “There is drugs, drinking alcohol, and three or four ladies and men lying down. I don’t know, it is too much [of a] problem. I am worried because I have children and my husband is sick.”
The Derby Telegraph reported on the state of Charlotte Street car park in 2018 when there was a fly-tipping problem.
Signs have been put up around the car park by Derby City Council say: “We are watching you – you are at risk of a penalty charge notice”.
Residents say that drug usage is also a problem in the area. Derby City Council sent workers to the site last Wednesday, to “cleanse” the area.
A resident said: “There was a guy from the Council who has come to clean up the needles and I asked him how many needles he’d recovered and he said 96.”
Mohammed Fraz, from Mirpur Jewellers on Pear Tree Road said: “It’s just trashy isn’t it? It’s just really trashy and unhealthy. I have been here seven years and I have just seen it get worse and worse.
“I’ve stopped bothering about it because you can’t do much about it to be fair. You don’t want to get into any conflict or anything.”
Residents say that businesses regularly dump rubbish at the site. They say that the blame lies with Derby City Council and Derbyshire police.
A resident said: “There needs to be tougher action in terms of the police doing their jobs and giving out fines and literally making a deterrent.
“The council needs to put money aside for the car park in terms of renovating it, doing something with the area and they really need to have a look at the licenses of the businesses in the area. I’ve rang the police, I have about five pages worth of referPEOPLE ence numbers. The police did patrol the area for four days but that’s it.
“They are not issuing on-the-spot fines. A lad the other day who was caught urinating by police, they never gave him a warning, never gave him a fine. They just spoke to him.”
Another resident said: “Obviously we do tell the council and the council are helpful at times and not helpful at times either. It’s all about the funding.”
Residents have thought about leaving the area but said that this would not fix the situation.
“Honestly, most of the people that live here, they’re all trying to move out of the area,” a resident said.
A resident said: “It should not be like that. We need to make a stand because we all live here. Normanton is a lovely, multicultural area, its fantastic. We just need to keep it clean.”
Normanton is a lovely, multicultural area, its fantastic. We just need to keep it clean.
Resident