We live in ‘the roughest part of Britain’ but we love it – the people are fun
RESIDENTS of ‘the roughest part of Britain’ have shared how much they love living in their city.
Latest census data showed Ayresome, in Middlesbrough, is one of Britain’s most deprived areas – but locals say ‘everyone’s eye on each other’.
4
4
4
4
Local residents complain about the high crime rate and the littered streets – but everyone stays with their neighbors because of the camaraderie.
Annmarie Fowler has been living on the streets for four years – and just last week her son’s phone was stolen.
She told Teeside Live: “It’s rough as old boots in here. I stand up for myself – when it comes to my kids I would go to the moon and back.”
Annmarie said another lady a few doors down was “run into her car” and had to put tape over her window.
She claimed the woman’s son is now “terrified to get in the car” because of the ordeal.
Still, she said everyone on Athol Street is “looking out for one another”.
Her stepfather, Paul Thomas Bellis, lives across the street.
He said: “I get on well with everyone here! But with the community [of Ayresome] is a bit drug related – but our road is fine.”
Meanwhile, Emma Sedgewick, who has worked as a lollipop lady on Parliament Road for almost a year but has lived in Middlesbrough for 13 years, said: “People are ‘polite and never angry’ when she’s on the road doing her job.
However, noting that it can be “fatal,” she explained, “I don’t know why half of them drive — they don’t stop!”
Despite the courtesy she meets and when speaking about Ayresome as an area, the 44-year-old said: “Don’t get me wrong I think it’s a bad area and I’ve lived here.
“But it’s bad. Most of the houses are boarded up and I actually want to move this week.”
Emma, who also has a second job in school catering, said she enjoys what she does because she sees “the fun side” of people on the school runs.
She added: “I think they could do more for children in Ayresome. When I was younger we had youth clubs – now when they go out they have gangs. We need a safe place for kids so parents don’t worry.”
Ayresome remains one of the areas housing student housing, with a number of student rental signs outside the properties along the road.
Bola, 28, is a university student and has only been living in Ayresome for five months.
She said: “There is no work and no jobs here.
DISADVANTAGED AREAS
Data from the Office for National Statistics states that a household is classified as deprived if it meets at least one of four dimensions:
- Employment: when a member of a household who is not a full-time student is either unemployed or inactive due to a long-term illness or disability.
- Education: where no person in the household has at least Level 2 education and no one aged 16 to 18 is a full-time student.
- Health: Each person in the household has “poor” or “very poor” general health or is identified as having a disability. Disabled are people who are considered restricted in their everyday activities due to permanent physical or mental health conditions or illnesses
- Housing: this is classified as deprived if the household’s dwelling is either overcrowded, in a shared flat or has no central heating.
“Most of the time you have to drive away to get them. It’s an average place to live and there’s nothing special about it – I’ve heard there are better places to live.”
Another Middlesbrough woman, 41, who asked not to be named, said she has lived in the area all her life but is moving away, saying: “I sold my house short because I can’t take it anymore, here to live.
“I don’t think it’s robbed – but I think it’s been taken down.” The other lady, 37, has moved to Acklam but works at a nearby supermarket and says the shop often encounters shoplifters.
She said: “There are always groups of people fighting. Beggars knock on doors.”
The 41-year-old added: “We just walk past things now because we’re used to them.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/7314469/roughest-area-in-uk/ We live in ‘the roughest part of Britain’ but we love it – the people are fun