Benefits Street is ‘filthy and neglected’ six years on – and one mum says she was better off homeless
A HOMELESS woman who moved to Benefits Street claims she was better off in a Travelodge than living in the “s**t hole” six years after the landmark TV show aired.
The Channel 4 documentary pulled in five million viewers as it tracked the lives of the locals on James Turner Street in Birmingham as they tried to live on handouts.
They were recorded shoplifting to buy drugs and while some had legitimate claims for benefits, others queued up to boast on camera about cheating the system.
The street’s most notorious residents – including White Dee – have since moved away after being propelled to fame.
Now exactly six years on from when the controversial show first aired, it has been left in ruin with piles of rubbish mounting up.
Homes have been invaded by mice and fly-tippers have used the “filthy and neglected” road as a dumping ground for sofas and other garbage.
One mum-of-two told : “Every time I step out my door, there’s litter everywhere. I’ve only been here since July, I’m trying to get out.
“I was homeless and living in a Travelodge. At least it was nice and clean in there. We had a mice infestation here, but we got a cat so that’s sorted it.”
Many of the residents were moved to the street by housing associations or the council.
One family came to Birmingham from plush Richmond in South West London because they were unable to afford London prices.
The dad-of-five said: “I was terrified at first, all I’d ever heard about Birmingham is it’s a s*** hole, don’t go there.
“I’ve been through so much. I’m just happy to have a roof over my head, even if it’s a s*** one.”
He said while the people are “nice”, he would move out in a “heartbeat” after watching a string of violent crimes take place in the three years he has lived there.
The dad claimed one 12-year-old girl was forced to move after being sexually harassed, while he revealed a delivery driver was carjacked.
He also told of a family who had to survive with no running water and no electricity for a year-and-a-half because the landlord “done f**k all”.
‘THEY’RE ANIMALS’
The local added: “The people, they don’t deserve to live in the s*** they’re living in. Because they are living in filth.
“They must have had ten kids and they never had a wash as long as they were here. You would see and smell them walk past, it would break my heart.
“Some of these people, I can see in their face they are just depressed. Some of the people are the closest to animals I have ever seen people be.”
BENEFITS STREET
Benefits Street featured 99 properties, which housed 13 nationalities, and nearly all of its residents were unemployed and on benefits.
The street’s “mother hen” White Dee was regularly seen cooking meals for the hungry on the street and emerged as a star.
She got more than £50,000 to appear on Celebrity Big Brother in 2014, went on Loose Women and has become a spokeswoman on all things benefits after moving away.
LAUNCHED TO FAME
Sherrell Dillion, known as SB, was seen on the show trying to launch her modelling career while being a mum-of-two.
She told The Sun on Sunday last year: “Benefits Street was amazing for me. People saw me and gave me a chance.
“My first modelling job was in a Wetherspoons ad then I had castings in Paris, Milan and Barcelona.
“I’d barely been away before. It was incredible.”
But the show didn’t help the lives of all the residents of James Turner Street. Black Dee, real name Samora Roberts, 37, was jailed for seven years in 2016 for running a drug-dealing operation at her home.
She said the show “threw her into the limelight” and friends said the drug dealing was her “just trying to make ends meet” as she fell further into debt.
While Funghi – real name James Clarke – tragically passed away aged 50 in July last year.
The TV star, who battled booze and crack addiction, is said to have killed himself because he was in a lot of pain with cancer and didn’t want his girlfriend to see him suffer.
