Story by Adrian Zorzut

Residents claim they are scared to step outside their front doors after revellers "do cocaine outside homes and smoke crack in estate stairwells".

Ferndale Road in Brixton is one of the main thoroughfares for late-night partiers on their way to well-known nightclubs in South London.

This quiet residential road is cut off at one end by a number of shops and rows of well-maintained Victorian homes, two estates and a nursery.

But beneath the suburbian vibes is a neighbourhood being paralysed by London's drug culture and nighttime establishments.

One resident claims, the Duke of Edinburgh pub welcomes hundreds of drinkers in the summer months to its front garden. The area is a "hotbed" for drugs, one resident alleged, who felt the pub just turned a blind eye to the drug issue.

The drinkers are mostly young students looking for a quick fix before spending the rest of the night at clubs, some of which are only a 10-minute walk away, they said. 

"Some hardcore dealers know there is a service there, they are so blatant about it," a resident tells the Local Democracy Reporting Service. He explained the dealers who sell to addicts that sleep outside the churches at night also supply this transient group of revellers.

He claims to have seen cars parked outside and drinkers rush out to collect drugs and said he was once followed home after he stumbled across a dealer distributing near his home.

He claims dealers trade outside shops at the end of the road and release incense to let buyers know that "business is open". He added people can buy "anything stolen off the high street there".

"They simply have no shame", he said.

The Duke of Edinburgh pub, which residents claim is contributing to drug misuse on the road. Credit: Adrian Zorzut.

The City of London is trying to tackle this problem on one of its estates on the road by installing CCTV.

In a recent council meeting, a Gresham Almshouses housing officer said addicts were "entering and loitering" around the estate. Other locals during a visit, told the LDRS that druggies hide in the stairwell to shoot up.

One resident on the estate, who did not want to be named, said: "They go up to the first landing and sit somewhere so no one can see them. If someone is about, they'll move to the next one, then the next one".

He said the problem has become so bad that access doors had to be installed on one side of the estate. 

He said: "They're not usually violent but they can be aggressive, but it depends on what they're on."

He points to St Paul's Church across the road and the Church of the First Born around the corner and explains drug users sleep outside them at night.

Those living nearby say although the addicts remain largely peaceful and quiet – the issue of drug abuse in the area has increased.

One man, who does not want to be identified, said he's even considered moving out after his mother-in-law was harassed by a homeless man begging for money at their front door.

He said: "There are loads of crackheads walking along the street. People often sleep and take drugs out the front of the church. We've had people smoke crack on our doorstep.

"You'll see people quite irate – couples screaming at each other in the street – people doing drugs.

"There was someone once who knocked on our door several times asking for someone we didn't know and started smoking his pipe."

He added: "We had a homeless guy camp outside our door in his car for a couple of weeks. We felt sorry for him. He looked alright so my wife and I went out once and gave him food."

Weeks later, he claims the man returned and threatened his mother-in-law for money as she left the property. 

The Church of the First Born on Allardyce St off Ferndale Rd, where it\'s said drug users sleep. Credit: Adrian Zorzut

Another resident said the roads suffer from two types of drug users. There are those, he said, that take party drugs like cocaine on their way to clubs and those who are addicted to harder substances and rely on the church to help them out.

He's lived in his home for 20 years and said he found the drug users as people who "keep themselves to themselves" but claims he experienced his first ever attempt of a break-in last week when someone tried to turn the lock to his front door.

This resident said the Duke of Edinburgh was also to blame, explaining how he regularly sees drinkers stop outside his home to snort cocaine.

He said: "There are drug dealers and there is always a strong smell of weed".

The Met has promised to step up patrols in the area while the city of London presses ahead with CCTV.

But for many, there is too little, too late. "It has been monstrous," the first resident said. "Installing CCTV would fundamentally make that gang of individuals who know there are no cameras or police go away."

"Sometimes, it can be lawless. Anyone can do what they want."

A spokesperson for St Paul's said: "We are aware of ongoing problems of drug-taking in our local area. This is a source of deep sadness for us – as this is the community that we love and seek to serve. 

"We are working with the police to do what we can to address these issues, although we can't control what happens outside our church buildings at all times. However, plans to install CCTV around our buildings are already underway. 

"We hope that by seeking to work together with those in our area, we can build a better and safer community for all."

A spokesperson for the City of London Corporation, which manages the Almshouses as a registered charity, said: "Drug taking on the estate is completely unacceptable, and we are working with the local police Safer Neighbourhood Team to increase patrols in the area. We are also installing CCTV to improve on-site security."

The Almshouses on Ferndale Rd is managed by the City of London, which plans to install CCTV to ward off drug users. Credit: Adrian Zorzut.

One business confirmed that drug dealing does take place outside their shop but they're left "powerless" to control what happens because it happens on a public road.

They said: "Drug misuse is most of the times influenced by neglect and lack of political will of the authorities to stop it.

"Our businesses were doing well until the council blocked Ferndale Road and all surrounding businesses have suffered as a cost or closed, which has resulted in turning the area [into] a drug hub.

"More so, police are underfunded to monitor or remove those individuals from the area [and] that's why it's always done in open daylight.

"This has negatively impacted our business and customer base…but what choices do we have?"

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: "We understand resident's frustrations and are keen to work with them to find a solution. Our public protection team work alongside the police to provide an on-street deterrent that can be sent to hotspots for anti-social behaviour in the borough.

"The council is also part of a new borough-wide partnership, including the Met police and health services, to tackle the harm and anti-social behaviour that results from drug use, particularly addiction. The partnership is developing an outreach service, that will be in place shortly, to respond directly to resident's concerns about illegal drug use in the borough."

A Met Police spokesperson said: "We are aware of issues in this area and over the last eighteen months, our Safer Neighbourhood Teams – alongside others – have implemented a new anti-social behaviour reduction strategy.

"This focuses on the use of Community Protection Notices to address a wide-ranging list of behaviour. This includes the consumption of controlled drugs, the possession of paraphernalia and the consumption of alcohol.

"Once a Community Protection Notice Warning has been issued to an individual, they have approximately six months to comply with the list of conditions. If the individual is found to have breached the conditions in the set location, they can then be issued with a Community Protection Notice and if in breach of this, the individual may be arrested.

"In the last 18 months, the collective neighbourhood policing teams have implemented this strategy and successfully delivered a 47per cent reduction in Serious Violent Crime within the area surrounding Windrush Square, SW2.

"Last year we also carried out training to council officers on how to issue Community Protection Notices, in order to increase the number issued by council officers. We continue to schedule dates in the diary in order to conduct multi-agency work and we work closely with the Sexual Exploitation and Harm Panel in order to ensure help and support is provided to vulnerable individuals that are found in these locations.

"A number of drug and alcohol referral forms have also been submitted to SLAM NHS as part of this work.

"To provide further reassurance to the local residents, a number of months ago the Brixton Town Centre Team arranged for a Design out Crime Officer to attend Windrush Square in order to advise local town planning teams on ways to reduce anti-social behaviour and crime in this location.

"In addition to this, in January the Brixton Windrush Neighbourhood Policing Team held a community engagement event, where members of the community could engage with their local team to discuss these matters and allay concerns. Furthermore, we're currently in the process of utilising the space at McDonald's on Brixton High Street in order to have further visibility.

"Additional patrols are also being carried out at hotspot locations, while weapons sweeps regularly take place."

The Church of the First Born and The Duke of Edinburgh were contacted for comment but did not respond by the time of publishing.