Pitsea and Tyefields residents speak out on anti-social behaviour

Residents have raised the alarm over a “gang of teenagers aged 12 to 16” who are allegedly causing mayhem in the Tyefields estate and along Rectory Road.

Pitsea South East councillor Craig Rimmer has revealed that Basildon Council will be paying for private security to go into troublesome estates from next month, to “help the police out”.

READ MORE

• Benfleet house fire leaves single mum and son homeless
• Leigh police granted stop and search powers after gang fights

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “I have seen them circling and shouting at lone elderly residents.

“I live in constant fear they will take a disliking to me and start having a go. We feel terrorised, and who knows what might happen if you stand up to them.”

A mother on the estate says a mob of teen yobs, riding scooters and bicycles, chased her autistic son just a few minutes’ walk from their home.

“There were six of them so there was no way my boy was hanging around to find out what they wanted,” the resident said.

“These kids terrorise Pitsea as a whole, wearing balaclavas and face masks, riding around unnerving the elderly and children.”

The mother, who says her son was left visibly shaken by the encounter, fears the issue has been worsening in recent years.

“When I moved here five years ago it seemed very quiet,” she said. “But ever since lockdown there have been problems.”

She added: “These groups roam from estate to estate, causing issues in Rectory Road shops and as far down as the Range.”

Mr Rimmer said: “It’s an issue across Pitsea, but also other parts of the borough as well.

“Frustratingly many of them are using the excuse of the pandemic to wear Covid face masks as an excuse to hide their faces and cause mischief.”

He added: “We are extending the remit of security employed by the council as park wardens to also go into the estates and the town centre to crackdown on anti-social behaviour.”

The council has also put in place Public Spaces Protection Order, which came into force in April, which gives police and council officers extra powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.