WALTHAMSTOW: Destitute men living in 'filthy' derelict pub

12:56pm Friday 22nd June 2012 in Where I Live By Daniel Binns

This photo, taken through an open door in the street, shows the living conditions of the men. This photo, taken through an open door in the street, shows the living conditions of the men.

CONCERNS have been raised about a group of destitute men living in filthy conditions in a derelict pub.

Neighbours say the men have been squatting in the former 'Central Station' in Brunner Road, Walthamstow, for several years, but their numbers have grown to around 15 in recent months.

They have no running water or electricity, and reportedly use a nearby alleyway and pavements to go to the toilet.

Nigel Jenkins, of MNJ Motors opposite the site, said businesses in the area were very concerned about what was happening in the “filthy” building, which he said was over-run with rats.

Traders also claim it attracts anti-social behaviour and crime to the area.

Mr Jenkins said: "There's so much mess from there we have to use pressure washers to clean the front of our premises on a regular basis.

“People are very intimidated and some are scared to walk down the alleyway.

"The men are aged between 25 and 50 and spend a lot of time drinking. Every morning a van comes to pick some of them up and then they come back again in the evening.

“There was someone who went inside the building to inspect it and they told me they found hand sanitizer bottles from Whipps Cross Hospital which they may have been drinking from. It's terrible.

"But when we call the authorities nobody does anything or seems to care."

The pub closed after a devastating fire in 2007 and has since been hit by a number of other blazes in recent years.

Property firm Edward Symmons sold the building at auction in April for more than £300,000 - double the guide price. But the company will not reveal who bought it.

Mr Jenkins said a Polish colleague had overheard the men speaking and believed they were of Russian origin.

A council spokesman said its planning department had received a complaint and were investigating.

But he added: "generally it is for the owner of the property to evict squatters and we would explore that avenue before serving an enforcement notice."

When the Guardian visited the scene two men were inside but they appeared intoxicated and unable to speak.

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency denied reports that it had received a complaint that the men were suspected illegal immigrants.

But he said: "We work closely with other agencies to deal with the challenges presented by homeless migrants and are determined to crack down on illegal immigration.

"Those found living or working here illegally is are liable to be detained and removed.

“Anyone with information about potential illegal working or immigration crime should contact Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 or visit http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/contact/report-crime."

The Guardian is awaiting a comment from Waltham Forest Police.

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Comments(26)

andychurchill says...
1:20pm Fri 22 Jun 12

This will be the next place to burn down then...I give it about a month or so, when they can pin the blame on bored school kids on summer holidays.

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Chappo says...
2:30pm Fri 22 Jun 12

These characters regular steal from Lidl`s and other shops, as when chased they run directly through the alleyway opposite Lidl`s and are seconds into their bolt hole. I cannot believe how apathetic the Police are in not arresting these people for theft and probably being in this country illegally. As for the Council!! they just sit on their hands on "any" anti-social issue.

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peejay33950 says...
3:03pm Fri 22 Jun 12

ont tell the council they are there or they will be housing them in some large property at the rate payers expence,The Council doesn,t understand the word Deportation

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Chappo says...
4:06pm Fri 22 Jun 12

As for the new owners of the property, it would be interesting to see if it appears on the portfolio of one of our property developing "councilors" nod nod wink wink! ..... };{i)

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bishbosh says...
4:10pm Fri 22 Jun 12

Anyone in the council thought of issuing a notice to the owners pursuant to a compulsory purchase so it could be redeveloped into much need social housing. This is the least any civilised society would expect of its "socialist" elected council.

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myopinioncounts says...
4:18pm Fri 22 Jun 12

How many are sqautting in the cinema in Buxton Road?

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Sam Hain says...
4:30pm Fri 22 Jun 12

Interesting question, myopinioncounts, I saw two guys letting themselves out of the doorway on Mission Grove the other day, and locking it behind them. You will have seen that this doorway was covered over with corrugated iron. Shortly after it was fitted I actually saw a young guy in a hi-vis 'Apollo' tabard cutting the door opening into this and reported it to the police immediately. As far as I'm aware no action was taken. I appreciate the legal difficulty of the police intervening is 'squatting' cases but where aomeone is apparently breaking and entering wouldn't you have thought some action might have been forthcoming?

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merry_christmas says...
8:01pm Fri 22 Jun 12

Typical - nobody is willing to take responsibility for anti-social behaviour.

We have weak leadership in WF!

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G_Whiz says...
10:54pm Fri 22 Jun 12

Laughable. Ignorant non proactive policing and councillors are paid by us, yet ignore our problems and totally ignore obvious immigration and other offences.
I would ask all who read this story to report it all to the police and council. It's obviously not sinking in!
I'm calling in a report in the morning!

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red37red says...
9:15am Sat 23 Jun 12

myopinioncounts wrote:
How many are sqautting in the cinema in Buxton Road?
i seen many there coming out .once l@q build on w/stow dogs they can have a new home knowing the council

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Sam Hain says...
10:13am Sat 23 Jun 12

red37red wrote:
myopinioncounts wrote:
How many are sqautting in the cinema in Buxton Road?
i seen many there coming out .once l@q build on w/stow dogs they can have a new home knowing the council
Better that, though, red37red, than allowing the current situation to persist which does no-one any good - neither the men themselves nor the wider community.

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myopinioncounts says...
1:10pm Sat 23 Jun 12

No, Sam Hain. Precious social housing should only be allocated to UK citizens who qualify. We owe nothing to those who arrive here with no hope of employment through lack of skills or a pre-existing drug/alcohol problem.

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Chappo says...
4:22pm Sat 23 Jun 12

Not forgetting how many may be criminals who are running away from their "own" authorities. These people should be rounded up and have their identities checked against an international database. The problem is that they destroy their documentation as soon as they cross our boarders and even claim they come from another country apart from their own. They should be locked up until "they" can prove who they are.

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Walthamster says...
6:26pm Sat 23 Jun 12

I'm sorry for anyone who is homeless. But I feel much more sympathy for ordinary people whose lives are disrupted when drug-users and heavy drinkers are housed next door to them.

That happened to my elderly aunt, whose peaceful block of flats filled up with formerly homeless people as the old people died off. The remaining elderly tenants were terrorised.

The bureaucrats who inflicted this called anyone who complained racists or nimbies.

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ASLEF shrugged says...
9:57am Sun 24 Jun 12

I agree that this problem needs to be dealt with but as it is private property there is little the council can do but wait for the owners to act and little the police can do if Lidl’s and the other shops haven’t reported the thefts.

Possibly the main problem is the general ignorance displayed in some of the comments here as to who does what; deportation of illegal immigrants is handled by the UK Borders Agency not the police or the council, it might help if complaints were directed to the proper authorities.

The UKBA, who haven’t received any complain that the squatters are in the country illegally, are currently struggling to deal with their workload thanks to government cut backs, delays at Heathrow being the most widely publicised example. If illegal immigrants are not being deported it has nothing to do with the “socialist” council and everything to do with the Tory-led Coalition.

Regardless, much praise for the journos at the Guardian for investigating, at other papers all they ever do is sit at their PCs regurgitating press releases.

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Walthamster says...
10:49am Sun 24 Jun 12

The council has a duty to take action when buildings are over-run with rats (which will quickly spread to neighbouring properties) and when people use the pavement as a toilet.

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bishbosh says...
12:01pm Sun 24 Jun 12

Of course there are things the council can do...use a little imagination with regard to public health and safety. Too many people excuse local authorities for their lack of action. This sort of problem is multi agency and we hear so much about how joined up agencies are working in partnership. All this takes is ownership of the problem, the right officers liaising and ACTION. Unfortunately too many take the line of least resistance and do nothing "as it seems someone elses problem" The council can do little as it is private property...pathetic

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ASLEF shrugged says...
10:35am Mon 25 Jun 12

I’ve been trying to find if urinating or defecating in a public place is illegal and while Scotland have a law covering this in England & Wales in varies from council to council.

The council have a duty to keep the streets clean but it appears that neither they nor the police can stop you having a dump on the pavement.

LBWF environmental health can do something if there is a rat infestation, all it takes is for someone to fill in a service request form, which you can do online, and it’s free for tenants or from £85 upwards for landlords depending on the size of the property. Or they could place an enforcement order on the owner to deal with the problem and then wait for the allotted time before they can sort it out and send the owner the bill for doing so.

For some strange reason the council and the police have to act within the law. Joined up agencies....pathetic

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bishbosh says...
2:58pm Mon 25 Jun 12

Presumably one would have to take ones trousers off to have a dump.....outraging public decency which is an arrestable offence. Not suggesting for one minute council's should act outside the law but too many officers and indeed council senior officers take poor decisions due to lack of resource and imagination in dealing with the problem. I wonder if any officer has visited the owners of this site to discuss the issues. I spent 30 years in Environment and seen at first hand the inactivity on some problems of which I think this is one.

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ruby newbie says...
11:13pm Mon 25 Jun 12

aint they just an handsome pair of fellas..............
.

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myopinioncounts says...
8:08am Tue 26 Jun 12

"Mr Jenkins said a Polish colleague had overheard the men speaking and believed they were of Russian origin." - This is a huge problem, it is not easy for our authorities to tell the genuine EU person from someone who has no right to be in the UK.

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ClifftonX says...
11:00am Tue 26 Jun 12

myopinioncounts wrote:
"Mr Jenkins said a Polish colleague had overheard the men speaking and believed they were of Russian origin." - This is a huge problem, it is not easy for our authorities to tell the genuine EU person from someone who has no right to be in the UK.
there are many, many Russians living in the UK who have managed to obtain a passport from one of the countries bordering Russia, such as Latvia and Lithuania. Having one of these passports then lets them come into the UK as they are part of the EC. I suspect most of the passports have been obtained by dubious means. Once again, the UK's leaky borders are causing massive problems.

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Techno3 says...
12:17pm Tue 26 Jun 12

ClifftonX wrote:
myopinioncounts wrote:
"Mr Jenkins said a Polish colleague had overheard the men speaking and believed they were of Russian origin." - This is a huge problem, it is not easy for our authorities to tell the genuine EU person from someone who has no right to be in the UK.
there are many, many Russians living in the UK who have managed to obtain a passport from one of the countries bordering Russia, such as Latvia and Lithuania. Having one of these passports then lets them come into the UK as they are part of the EC. I suspect most of the passports have been obtained by dubious means. Once again, the UK's leaky borders are causing massive problems.
It is a little easy to jump to conclusions about peoples' origins. If you look into the history of people from the baltic states in question you will find that there are many Russian speakers who have passports from those countries quite legitimately. Be aware that Russian is a lingua franca in the east, and it may be that what has been observed are people from a number of countries using Russian to converse. There is also the possibility that Mr Jenkin's Polish informant was so ashamed to see fellow countymen in such a poor state of welbeing that they said they were from somewhere else.

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Eppingforest1234 says...
12:28pm Fri 29 Jun 12

Anyone here care about the welfare of these homeless people? I wonder what people's feelings would be if they were english homeless people.

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Walthamster says...
2:43pm Fri 29 Jun 12

Eppingforest1234 wrote:
Anyone here care about the welfare of these homeless people? I wonder what people's feelings would be if they were english homeless people.
It's easy to express sympathy that doesn't cost you anything.

Are you taking action to help these men? Are you personally affected by the area's rising crime rate or the use of streets as toilets? If not, why not feel sympathy for the people who are having to deal with it?

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myopinioncounts says...
5:41pm Sat 30 Jun 12

These men should be helped - by taking them to their Embassy to be repatriated at their home countries expense. It is hard enough to witness how many jobs have gone to EU citizens while our own unemployment figures are so high but we should not have to tolerate this behaviour.

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