LOCALS in a picturesque seaside town say they are tormented by “devil” kids setting fires to abandoned buildings and scaling roofs – then punishing anyone who tells them off.
The youths are causing chaos by smashing windows and swearing at locals who ask them to leave.
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Neighbours of the derelict buildings in Deal, Kent, say they were fenced off a few weeks ago, but the kids were seen as recently as Sunday after the hoardings blew down thanks to Storm Bert.
Some have even had bottles thrown at their houses after confronting the nuisance kids, said to be as young as 10.
The complex was closed in 2019 and has been empty ever since – with multiple buildings which the tearaways have now smashed up.
Homeowners believe they are climbing up an old fire escape to get to one of the buildings and its flat roof – with multiple boarded up windows visible near the staircase.
Phil Everitt, 68, who lives near the ruined site, said: “It has been
absolute bedlam right through summer.
“I only moved here in April – this was my mum’s house – and neighbours told me it had been going on for quite a while, but not as bad as it got this summer.
“We had police helicopters coming over with the lights going.
“One night I counted nine kids up on the top of a building lobbing stuff down.
“What bothers me is I would ring the police, and they’d come down but they’d put their sirens on – of course by the time they get here, the kids have scarpered.
“There are three exits from the site – one over the wall, one by the old police station, and another through the allotment.
“It is a waste of time – but the police can’t do anything anyway.
“If they get hold of them they just slap them on the wrist, tell them not to do it again and of course they’re back – one night they were back within half an hour causing havoc again.
“Another night there was smoke coming out of one of the buildings and we thought ‘bloody hell everything is going to go up.’
“But apparently they had made a fire in a basin – my fireman friend told me that.”
He added: “Rather than boarding all the windows up they just left them there to smash.”
Phil has lived all around town and expected moving to his new home would mean peace and quiet, but that is not the case.
He said: “We moved in here thinking it would be quiet – but you see my mum is as deaf as a post, and she didn’t mention this once!
“They’re kicking and shouting and throwing bottles.
He added: “One night I gave one of them a rollocking – I called over the wall and told them off.
“They gave a bit of back chat and off they went, then I saw one of them around the town and he hid his face.
“But in the morning there was a beer bottle – they had tried to hit my
window, but it had hit the wall and shattered.
“You pay a hell of a poll tax here and it’s the noisiest house out of all
the ones we’ve lived in!”
His wife Leigh Everitt, 59, who works in the town’s theatre, said: “I don’t know if it’s the same crowd of kids – but they let themselves into shops and the theatre.
“They’ve been running riot, they’ve been coming in while we’ve got a show on and they’re up in the gallery and running around – one even pulled a hammer out on my colleague.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they were the same kids.
“You see them when I take a dog for the walk and there just seems to be a crowd of them with their music blaring.
“I don’t know why you need to do that in this day and age, everyone has headphones – although I do feel like an old person saying that!
Phil joked: “Are we getting old now?”
Leigh added: “They just cause havoc – it’s a bit of fun, but it is
frightening.
“You think ‘have they got over the fence?’ because we cleared out the
garden.
“There was one night where there was breaking glass and we were just standing there filming – they must have seen me.”
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Doreen Greenup, 91, said: “They have been absolute devils all summer – and you wouldn’t believe the language.
“They put up the fences, but they blew down in the storm and one of my neighbours said they were in there on Sunday afternoon.
“They were smashing things, setting fires, they were an absolute nuisance.”
Her neighbour Angela Revis, 81, has also seen the kids in the abandoned care home – and has called the police several times, she said: “We keep having to ring the police because children keep getting in there.
“They come in via the allotments over there and they go up the fire escape, I think one of them must go in somewhere else to let them in.
“The gale blew the new fence on Sunday morning and there’s another fence they can climb over easily.
She added: “Someone must go in and open the door at the top of the fire escape – how they get into the building I don’t know, surely it should be locked.
“When I go into my conservatory I can see the fire escape and I can see if the door has been opened or not – so if I find that’s open then I ring the police and they usually come.”
The retiree has found the police are good at responding to the incidents, but feels the only solution to the problem is to demolish the buildings, she said: “The police have been good, they’ve been coming every day.
“I haven’t seen the kids lately, but someone reported seeing them on Sunday afternoon.
She added: “We’re worried – they start small fires, they could have the
whole place on fire and my house is only one meter from the site.
“My garage is only one meter away, so I’m worried they could set it on
fire.
“And they could be taking drugs in there, they could be smoking.
“It is not safe for them either – they could fall down and break a bone.
“They are teenagers and even younger – but I don’t know them.
“My neighbour sees them coming in and calls the police – it’s scary for her and her family.
“One of them was actually on the roof, on the top of the roof.
“They could really seriously injure themselves or kill themselves up
that high.
“I did have some bad language from one young man – I had my car window open and he just shouted into the car window a rude word – the f-word I think.
“I shouldn’t have to put up with that, it’s a nice quiet area here – or it
was.
“All this summer this has been going on – at least nine months.
“The police must be absolutely fed up – and I think they complained to the owner who has then authorised all the boards to be put up.
“It’s so unfortunate that we had that gale that blew them down – or they couldn’t have got in.
“Usually there are about six kids.
“One time, I opened my bathroom window which overlooks the fire escape because I had just called the police and when I looked there were about six teenagers just standing there laughing at me.
“I wish I had my camera – then the police came and set them away. They can’t arrest young people can they?
“I hope they’re going to hurry up and demolish it – the sooner the better.”
‘NIGHTMARE’
Another resident, who did not want to be named due to fear of repercussions, said: “We are fed up because the police don’t seem to be able to do anything.
“They have been called about them time and time again.
“One 10 year old is one thing, but a gang of 10 year olds can be quite
intimidating especially at our age.
“Even one 10 year old can put a brick through your window.
“Usually the children are under 13.
“It has been a nightmare – we would like to see it demolished.”
The kids have also reportedly caused problems at the allotment, with one gardener stating they had broken into some sheds near the site.
He said: “There were break-ins in the sheds at the end of the allotment.
“I’m not here that often, but I heard from people down that end that there had been problems with that.
“I haven’t heard anything about that recently though.”
“I think there was a lot of talk about them in the local
WhatsApp group – they were causing chaos.”
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