NEIGHBOURS to a quiet Earley cul-de-sac say they have been affected by crime and disorder, days after a body was found there.
Thames Valley Police confirmed they were called to Heather Hill Close on Wednesday, July 26, where they attended to a death they say is being treated as unexplained by not suspicious. The body was that of a 59-year-old man.
Residents say they have been left in fear after months of criminal behaviour including fears of cuckooing, a process where criminals use a vulnerable person’s home as their base of operations for activity such as drug dealing.
They have also reported street fights, thefts and slashed tyres and said there was one home where visitors come and go at all times of the night.
Crimes reported to police recently include:
Reports of a naked man with a pole fighting a masked man with a knife in broad daylight
Car tyres being slashed
Reports of a parcel being stolen from outside a front door
Other safety fears reported by neighbours include suspicious men peering into houses at night, and vehicles blocking the roads.
One neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said: “We’ve been begging police to do something about this.
“Parcels have been stolen, tyres have been slashed. People are coming at all times of the night, and there have been fights.”
The neighbour also expressed fear for one of the local homeowners who they fear is at risk due to cuckooing. They say the council has been contacted with safeguarding fears.
Emails seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service confirm that Wokingham Borough Council officers visited the house in May to speak to the owner about litter in the street.
The authority also suggested that the owner has been offered support and a multi-agency anti-social behaviour panel apparently discussed the issues at a meeting in April.
But council officers told neighbours there wasn’t enough evidence of high level anti-social behaviour to support council action – and that any crimes were a matter for the police.
Wokingham Borough Council confirmed that it had “no live case” regarding homes in the cul-de-sac at the time of writing. And Thames Valley Police confirmed several reported crimes have been ‘filed pending further information coming to light’.
