Families living on a ' hellhole ' street have described their terror after a woman has been accused of following and grabbing local kids.
Residents living on Carron Street, Fenton, claim a woman squatting in one the red-brick terrace properties is following and grabbing at passing mothers and their children.
The Stoke-on-Trent locals say their lives have also been made a misery by 'squatters and junkies', reports StokeonTrentLive.
Problems include drug users staggering in the middle of the road, discarded needles and late-night noise.
Staffordshire Police have been called to the street on numerous occasions but residents claim nothing is being done.
Mum Sarah Taylor says she feels 'trapped' in her Carron Street home.
The 46-year-old said: "It’s the worst estate I’ve ever lived on in my life for being filthy dirty - people dumping rubbish all down the alleyways, junkies pacing the streets chucking needles and smoking monkey dust.
“It’s disgusting. And then you’ve got the likes of them in that house with no electric or gas for two years and they're still living there. I can’t understand why the landlord has allowed them to stay. I won’t stay here with my kids until they’re gone.
“Basically the estate’s hanging - and nobody’s bothered. I’ve tried my hardest to get off the estate but I can’t find anywhere that takes benefits - because I’ve got health issues. I’m waiting for a lung transplant. I feel trapped.”
Zuzana Bogyoova, 30, moved into Carron Street five years ago and now also wants to move because of the issues.
She said" “The woman is always staring at people and shouting. She looks off her face. I’ve not seen anything with the kids, but I know some people have had problems.
"Parents shouldn’t have to be worried over the school holidays, when there’s nice weather, when there’s some person like that about.
“I don’t want any of my friends and family here to come and hear that straight from my window. If I want to do a barbecue with my girlfriends I can’t. It makes me feel like I don’t want to invite anyone here. I’m considering moving next year."
Another resident says he is constantly woken up at night by the noise.
He added: "It's so disturbing and disgusting to have people like that on the street.
"The house has been in that state for the whole five years I've lived here. They're crack addicts. [...] There's always shouting and arguing in the street at God knows what time.
"I think the back windows don't exist either. It's a horrible state for a property. Others have moved because the crime in the area is so bad."
A third Carron Street resident said: "On Tuesday night night all hell was breaking loose in the street and the police were here. It’s not fun at the minute in this street.
"I came home about a week and-a-half ago from work - and I thought there’s something wrong there. This woman was too forward for my liking.
"It was on the Neighbourhood Watch about this woman who had followed her with her grandchildren back from school and was trying to touch the kids.
"A lot of children do come down this way to go to school. So to have somebody like that in the street - it’s not a good thing, it’s not nice at all.
“Hopefully, if they move her on the street might quieten down and we might get back to a bit of normality again.
"I’ve been here for seven years - it wasn’t too bad when I first moved. But now they seem to put problem people in the rented houses. The street has gone down - a lot of people will tell you that."
Another resident added: "They’ve been trying to snatch kids in front of parents which is quite shocking. I’ve heard reports last week of them hovering round the back, trying back doors and things like that.”
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "The woman has been identified, and while we understand this behaviour is concerning, we wish to reassure the community that appropriate safeguarding measures are being taken.”
