Violence, drugs and arson: Former resident lifts lid on life on Doncaster hell-hole estate

Prince’s Crescent in Edlington, which is strewn with rubbish, burnt out cars and boarded up houses, has been repeatedly slammed by upset locals, who live in fear of gangs - some as young as nine – roaming the streets and causing chaos.

One former resident has told what life is like in the rundown estate, saying: “It’s like a warzone – it’s like Beirut.”

And she even said her husband, who at one time lived in America, felt safer in the USA with its ‘guns, racism and infighting’ than Prince’s Crescent.

The woman, who we have chosen not to name, outlined a catalogue of terrifying incidents in just one month of living on the estate which is plagued by lawlessness on an almost daily basis.

Unable to arrange a viewing, the couple were given a ‘virtual’ tour of the house – but were not told about the neighbourhood.

She said: “Our first experience of Prince's Crescent was driving into the street on the move-in date.

"It looked like a warzone, like Beiruit.

"It was horrible, broken windows, doors and windows boarded up, rubbish everywhere.

"We should have taken the hint and kept going, not stopping, but we thought we had no choice as we'd paid the deposit and first month's rent already and had turned in the keys to the previous residence.”

She added: “The move went fine, got all moved in mid morning to afternoon but in the evening we noticed the gangs roaming the streets.

"The next morning we met the neighbours on either side of us.

"One, a Hungarian woman, told us she was moving out that weekend because she had been targeted, harassed, bullied and verbally andphysically attacked by the gangs, slashing of tyres, smashing her windscreen.

"They had even broken the CCTV cameras she had installed on the outside and front of her house. She installed spike strips with staining black paint along the tops of the gates and fences at the front and back of the garden because the gang members would use the private gardens as their personal travelway.

But things were about to get even worse.

“We found out from the other neighbour that he'd had his windscreen smashed in for no reason by the gang.

"It was fine for about a week. Then one evening as I sat at my desk next to the window, one of the gang members came to the gate and was making gestures and yelling at me through the window.

"I couldn't really see him too clearly, nor could I hear what he was saying, so I simply got up and closed the curtains.

"I had just sat down at my desk when a brick smashed through the window, bouncing off my laptop and barely missed hitting me. I screamed.

"The heavy curtains being closed deflected the brick from hitting me in the head and bounced it off my laptop keys and screen instead.

Police arrived 25 minutes later she said after her husband called 999.

“They said they were shocked when they saw the state of Prince's Crescent,” the woman added.

"My husband told them that he felt safer in America with its guns, racism and infighting than he did on the street.

“We were not the only house hit that night.

“Three doors down had their window smashed in as well."

The couple say they were advised to move out of the street by police, with one officer reportedly saying: “You don’t fit in. Because of the gang, the police can't fix things.”

She said: “Is law enforcement afraid of miscreant teens? And what kind of a law enforcement officer tells a resident that they need to move out because they are outsiders and don't fit in?

The next evening she spotted a camper van being pushed, by the gang, up the street.

She added: “Knowing the gang's activities, I surmised they were going to torch it. I was right, next thing we knew, a fire engine was blaring through our street to put it out.

“I didn’t like feeling like a prisoner in my own home, but that is exactly what it was like after the brick came through the window.

"Every day there was shouting and threatening behaviour.

"I personally saw one male with an 18-24 inch knife/machete, threatening someone two doors down from us.

"I also saw a preteen girl threaten a younger boy with beating his head in with a metal rod just for him calling her a name.

“The parents are to blame for this behaviour, as is peer pressure.

"This street looks enough like a warzone, so the military could be posted at the top, bottom and middle of the street to take care of things and put it back to the supposed nicest street in Yorkshire.

Another brick attack followed a few weeks later.

She said: “One hit the metal of the window frame downstairs, and the second came in through the first floor front bedroom window, again spreading glass everywhere. Another call to 999, another sleepless night after putting up cardboard on another window. No one should have to live like this, but that's what these miscreants do, they terrorise the street, and everyone is afraid of them and will not report them.”

The couple were moved into a new, temporary flat by a councillor who feared for the pair’s lives and she said: “We made a night time run, literally for our and our dogs' lives. We were set up in a temporary council flat, but we feared what we would return to on Prince’s Crescent.

“We made plans to get the rest of our belongings out.

“Two trips were made before the final 'showdown'.

"The gang leader tried to goad my husband into a fight. The gang of miscreants were walking down the street past us yelling 'grass! grass!'.

"We ignored them, until the last load.

"The leader came up to my husband, stood toe to toe with him and swore on his grandfather's life that he would lay my husband out.

"My husband, who had been bullied in school and knew how to handle himself, stood there, waiting for any body language that the leader would swing at him.

"Little did the leader know that my father-in-law was stood behind him with his hand on the shovel handle that he just put in his car. If the leader had swung at my husband, the leader would not be standing much longer.

“No fisticuffs were thrown. My husband told me to get myself and the dogs into the car, which we did.

"The leader then walked off disgustedly as if he couldn't believe my husband didn't want to fight him. My husband told him to come stand in front of our car so he could run the leader over. Then we got in our car and we drove off, but not before a brick was thrown and damaged the back of our car.

“The whole street needs to be razed, rebuilt, veterans given houses at both ends and charged with the task of guarding the street from unwanteds such as those miscreants. There have been charges filed on them, but we have no clue what stage the investigation is at, at this time.

“This all happened within one month.

"The month from hell as we call it! We have all suffered PTSD of some form, even the dogs, and it's taking a while to recover.”

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the street is plagued by violence and drugs and revenge attacks.