A chippy owner in the UK's "roughest estate" - so dodgy it has likened to a lawless street in war-torn Ukraine - has said her business is terrorised by kids throwing dead pigeons into her stop.
Lucky Grewal, 40, says her business has been suffering after yobs as young as nine have been running riot in the streets.
Blakenall, on the outskirts of Walsall, in the West Midlands, began falling into a state of disrepair over the past two years, and now Lucky has revealed that her store, the King Cod Chippy, is bearing the brunt of the sad tidings.
Owning a store in what has been dubbed "Britain's roughest estate" is no easy feat, the takeaway shop owner says.
Lucky says she has been suffering from gangs of kids and teens hellbent on making her life as tough as possible.
Recalling the terror she has endured, she says her car and shop have been smashed up, eggs thrown into the store and pigeons pelted inside, reports Daily Star.
Some of the attackers are reportedly as young as nine-years-old, with locals worried sick after they have been both physically and racially attacked by the youths, reports The Sun.
Speaking about how worried she is for herself and her customers, Lucky said: "It’s constant. One bad thing you could put up with but it’s all the time, day and night.
"We are all so scared, my staff, my customers. And we call the police and they do nothing, absolutely nothing."
Rocky, 40, Lucky’s partner, added that he personally watched the kids throw a pigeon into the King Cod one day.
Despite being present during the attack, Lucky says that nothing has been done by the police.
She added: "I wasn’t there but they threw the bloody dead bird across the counter and it fell on the floor. It was shocking.
"Yes we called the police but no they did nothing.”
The feral attacks reportedly started during lockdown, but nearly two years on, they are still as bad - if not worse now.
Last Halloween, Lucky recalled that the yobs "threw large pumpkins across the counter", and since then she has had salt and vinegar shockingly thrown in her face on multiple occasions.
After one incident which involved eggs being pelted at the chip shop, the owner says that cops were called.
She said: “As they were checking the CCTV the lads threw eggs at them splattering all over their uniforms, and then they ran off.
“One officer told me ‘we can’t do much about that!’"
Lucky then went on to question: “But why can’t they? It is their job and they just don’t care, and they do absolutely nothing.
"We need someone to help and no one wants to."
Opening up at just how scary it is to live in Blakenall at the moment, an unnamed customer in the shop said: “It’s got very dodgy round here with kids running wild and abusing people.
"The parents don’t seem to care what they get up to, as they’re in the local pub, they turn a blind eye.”
And another worried local business owner said that owning a store there is like being in "war-torn Ukraine".
They added: "They were banging on my door and asking me for sexual favours. I felt sickened and scared and it was very disturbing.
"We’re too scared to walk home from work alone for fear of being abused."
Another 46-year-old resident added: "It used to be a decent place to live but now it’s awful and I’m not surprised it’s been called the worst place in the country."
Inspector Phil Upton, from the Walsall Neighbourhood Team, said: "We are aware of growing concern around instances of appalling behaviour by a small minority of young people in the Blakenall area.
"We understand how upsetting and worrying this can be and we have been carrying out extra patrols in the area to discourage further incidents and help with our on-going enquiries.
"Officers have also been liaising closely with our partners in the area, including Walsall Council, local housing providers and youth services as we work to confirm the identity of those involved.
"We have also been using dispersal orders in the area to remove and deter those identified as responsible.
"Our work to tackle this issue is continuing and evolving, with further increased patrols planned along with targeted action to curb this totally unacceptable behaviour."
A Walsall Council spokesperson said: "The council is actively working in partnership with West Midlands Police colleagues, partners and the local community to tackle these issues."
