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TRAPPED IN HELL
I live in hell as yobs terrorise playground by my home – they climb the fence keep us up all night but no one will help
A MUM-OF-TWO whose house backs onto a public playground claims lawless teenagers are making her family's life a living hell.
Noisy yobs have peered over Leah Flack's fence, urinated on the swings and left broken bottles and laughing gas cannisters scattered all over the ground for the last six years.
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The 40-year-old has also had to put up with gangs setting fire to the climbing frame and all-night parties in what she describes as "a theme park for drunks".
And the constant screaming, foul language and booming music have pushed the family to contemplate packing up and moving.
Leah, who lives with Michael and their daughters Esme, six, and two-year-old Ayla, said: "The anti-social behaviour at night is shocking.
"We've completely lost our privacy and we've got teenagers peering over our back fence continuously.
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"We've spent six years keeping noise logs and trying to engage with the local council and community police but they won't acknowledge the problem.
"They just told us that it is our fault for moving next to a park. One even basically told me to 'get over it'. How do they think that is acceptable?
"Interestingly they've just had £7million invested in the park by third parties so I reckon they are trying to ignore it or keep a lid on all the complaints.
"It seems that investment has overridden any concern for local residents."
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The problems started in the summer of 2016 when groups of young people started gathering by the play equipment - and Leah has kept a log of the incidents ever since.
She has pages and pages of reports of disruption, including glasses being smashed, speakers blaring into the early hours, and a moped revving to spin the roundabout.
Despite repeated complaints to the council and police, Leah claims next to nothing has been done - just the planting of a handful of trees to act as a "screen".
Technology programme manager Leah, from Brentwood, Essex, now fears for the summer when the situation only gets worse.
More and more teens congregate on King George's Playing Fields when it's warm, and last summer the family couldn't even have their windows open due to the constant racket.
"We have young children and some of the language, shrieking and screaming as young adults play on the equipment after dark is genuinely shocking," Leah said.
"On some occasions, my daughter's bedroom has reached 30C and we've been unable to open the windows.
"It has definitely led to anxiety in our family each evening, not knowing whether or not we'll be kept awake, or woken up.
"If we didn't have such young children, we could wear ear plugs at night, but we have to listen out for them still at this age."
Some of the language, shrieking and screaming as young adults play on the equipment after dark is genuinely shocking.
Leah Flack
Leah said the council held a consultation for residents to make their views heard before the updated playground was installed.
But when they asked the authority for the proposal, it was reportedly never sent.
And when they did finally get their hands on it, it didn't show anything about play equipment which overlooks Leah's property.
"We were not consulted. We had no input," Leah said.
"When the council did finally respond to our concerns they said they had planted trees for screening, but this is not going to stop the noise, and it's not going to deter the behaviour after dark.
"All of the last six years of pain has been completely ignored and they've gone ahead and put the worse equipment behind our back fence.
"In a nutshell, they've ignored all of our complaints, police reports and noise logs and built a theme park for drunks and anti-social behaviour."
'SIX YEARS OF PAIN'
Leah added that the police have been more engaging than the council, but have been unable to do a lot due to limited resources.
Essex Police confirmed it had received reports of anti-social behaviour in the area.
A spokesperson for the force added: "Anti-social behaviour is a priority for Essex Police and we are aware of reports of ASB concerning King George's Playing Fields in Brentwood.
"We conduct joint patrols and will work with the council to address any issues."
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A Brentwood Borough Council spokesperson said: "Our community safety team work with Essex Police to patrol the park and CCTV is being put in place as part of the redevelopment.
"We are currently arranging a meeting with the resident to discuss their concerns."
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