Remember the shocking story about Feltham resident Phil Pearson who was punched in the face by youths after trying to stop them hanging around in stairwells of the block of flats where he lives?

Phil’s neighbours in Buddleia House told us they had been plagued by for months by gangs of youths – who get in through the broken security doors – to smoke, drink, take drugs, scrawl racist graffiti and generally make life unpleasant.

Since the story went live, we have been inundated by your shocking reports from other blocks across West London of this nuisance behaviour in flats managed by the same company – A2 Dominion, suggesting the problem is widespread.

At Buddleia House, the youths have returned again, scrawling graffiti on the walls, burning light switches with cigarette butts and leaving rubbish scattered down the stairs.

Residents say they are frightened of what the youths might do next and that despite repeatedly reporting issues to the police and A2 Dominion, nothing has been done to improve security or stop the youths returning.

Many of you say your lives are being made unpleasant by troublesome gangs and are asking why A2 Dominion – which runs numerous blocks in Hounslow and other London boroughs, seems incapable of fixing security doors and improving safety for residents.

“We’re going to have to go to war to get them out,” one resident who lives in a block of flats in the Great West quarter of Brentford told us.

“We have been having continuous issues with youths coming to our estate, accessing the car park, loitering in the communal areas, getting up on the roofs, starting fires in the car park, dangerously riding bikes around cars and using abusive language towards residents that have asked them to leave.

“This issue is completely ignored by A2 Dominion who seem keen only in getting the service charge paid.

“I think sooner or later some residents will consider attacking these trespassers but they will make sure to knock them down before they can react. We are going to war.

“These kids cause a lot of distress to all of us – they ride their bikes dangerously with little regard to car vehicle traffic, dump rubbish, shout often using abusive language and actually causing damage to the development,” said another Great West Quarter resident.

“They also enter our ‘secure’ car park daily riding their bikes between cars. [Recently] one of the kids burnt some papers in the car park causing a fire risk which the fire brigade had to attend to.

“Their behaviour is becoming more and more dangerous on a daily basis and quite frankly we are all fed up with this situation, especially because A2 Dominion seem to wash their hands of any responsibility.

“It is simply not good enough to wait for some serious incident to happen to even consider our complaints and I can assure you that as things are going right now something bad will happen one day.”

Vandalised stairwell in Buddleia House flats in Feltham, where residents have complained about anti-social behaviour. Cleared for use.
A vandalised stairwell in Buddleia House flats in Feltham, where residents have complained about anti-social behaviour

Another resident got in touch from as far away as Romford in Essex to claim that youths and “druggies” have threatened him with violence.

He said: “Myself and a female resident confronted a ‘druggie’ who was sleeping on the seventh floor landing of our building. When I woke him he threatened to throw me down the stairs, before he ran off and out of the building.

“A2 Dominion have ignored the fact that vagrants have been living in electric and gas cupboards here for the past four years. It was left to residents to evict the men.

“We have since had to evict many other vagrants because when they were reported to A2 Dominion, instead of evicting them, the complaints officer advised me to contact local charities so the charities could counsel them.”

Brentford and Isleworth MP Ruth Cadbury said she was “frustrated” that A2 Dominion “don’t seem to have the management capability to address these issues”.

She said: “Having been a councillor for many years, I am shocked and surprised that A2 Dominion and other housing associations don’t seem to be as effective as council housing in dealing with these issues.

“I will continue to raise this with A2 Dominion as I have done for many years. They should do their best to make sure doors are secure and that any residents who are known to be a source of the problems should be served eviction notices.”

One of the A2 Dominion blocks of flats in Feltham where residents reported problems with anti-social behaviour

She said it was “terrible” that many of the flats are “shared ownership” with tenants paying large rents and mortgages and big service charges to their management company yet still facing these problems at their homes.

A2 Dominion has been approached for a fresh comment but Steve Michaux, its director of residential services, previously said: “We take reports of antisocial behaviour very seriously, and we are doing everything we can to respond to the issues at Buddleia House.

“We are aware both external doors have been vandalised and we are replacing them with a more secure door to reduce the likelihood of vandalism and trespassing.

“We also encourage our residents to report all criminal matters, such as substance abuse or trespassing, to the police.

“We will be working with local police to tackle these issues and inviting them to attend our residents’ meeting in September to discuss antisocial behaviour and how, and to whom, to report it.

“We will continue to communicate regularly with our residents to help resolve antisocial behaviour issues as quickly as possible.”

Phil Pearson was left shocked after he was punched in the attack last week
Phil Pearson was left shocked after he was punched in an attack outside his flat

PC Jody Whitehouse, who is the dedicated ward officer for Feltham West Neighbourhood Policing Team, said it’s vital that residents report incidents of antisocial behaviour to her directly – as soon as they happen – as this enables officers to deal with them quickly.

She said her team is working closely with the residents and housing associations in the area to resolve any problems and has set up extra patrols in recent weeks. The team’s contact details are available in all the flats.

Do you live in a block of flats affected by similar issues? Do you pay a hefty service charge to your management company and are wondering what it gets spent on?

Let us know your story by emailing martin.elvery@reachplc.com. You can also facebook @martinelveryreporter or tweet @journo_martinp