Flat residents are living in fear

9:04am Wednesday 7th May 2008

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A security guard has been hired to guard residents in a Falmouth block of flats who claim they are afraid to step outside their front doors.

Residents of flats in Hayman Way, off Lamb's Lane, say they are kept awake at night with loud music, shouting and banging.

The situation has become so bad that a security guard now stands on a 24-hour guard outside the property to watch over residents.

It is not known how long the security will be put in place for.

Mike Owen, executive director of Carrick Housing, said he could not comment on specific cases.

But he confirmed that a security firm had been employed to provide additional security to residents in Hayman Way, which was "expensive but necessary."

Last Thursday a man was seen to be taken away by police after residents heard sounds of loud smashing in a room in the flats One elderly resident who will be 90 in July asked not to be named, but told the Packet: "It's terrible."

She said she and other residents heard what sounded like an axe smashing wood last Thursday lunchtime. She later heard that a coffee table had been smashed with an axe, before a man was taken away by police.

The pensioner said: "I can't concentrate. My memory has gone.

"I had a terrific memory, now I can't even do a crossword, I can't think."

She claimed that there were sometimes up to six people and two dogs staying in a flat, despite the fact the man living there was supposed to be living alone.

The woman described how on one occasion she had been talking to a man, when suddenly she had to pass him a newspaper so that he could vomit foam onto it.

On another occasion she had suddenly woken in the middle of the night and on opening her front door to see if anything was happening she saw a man, who said: "I rang your bell."

When she replied "you idiot" and went back inside she says he proceeded to kick her front door repeatedly until she rang the police.

Another resident, aged 65, said she had ended up in hospital with the stress of living in the building and feared that one of her neighbours would "not live to the end of the year" due to nerves.

She added: "I am losing weight through stress and worry. Everybody is absolutely disgusted but we are petrified now to go out, event to the dustbin. Something has really got to be done. I just want to live a peaceful, quiet life."

She said she had requested to be transferred from the flat, adding: " I don't want to see this place ever again in my life."