The crack-riddled seaside town where dealers flog £15k hauls in Asda bags and junkies hole up in filthy ‘death row'
DESPAIRING residents of a world-famous seaside town are so fed up of its drugs problem they are taking antidepressants.
Bridlington, in East Yorkshire - once an upmarket and bustling resort - is still renowned for its excellent shellfish and is referred to as the Lobster Capital of Europe.
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The seaside town of Bridlington has experienced a sharp decline in recent years
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Toilets, fridges and other junk rots at the front of boarded-up houses
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Simon Elvidge, 59, said he had to 'knock a few crackheads out' who started on him
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One local told how he was homeless for months but used his 'willpower' to stop being around the wrong people
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But a short distance from the promenade, on Tennyson Avenue, also known as "death row", drug deals are taking place in broad daylight.
The scruffy terraced street was once the pride of the town and home to upmarket B&Bs, but in recent years has suffered a
The Victorian buildings, which retain little of their former grandeur, have been converted into HMOs and flats or else lie empty and boarded up.
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Shortly before 8.30am on a grey, cloudy morning, a scrawny woman walks along the street, which is littered with empty cider cans, clutching a bottle of vodka.
Residents speak of being forced to defend themselves against "crack heads" and nightmare neighbours, who set fire to their flats.
One pensioner says she used to be proud to call Tennyson Avenue home, but now barely recognises it.
The woman, who was too scared to give us her name, said: "The best thing about Bridlington now is the road out of it.
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"Ex prisoners used to live next door, and they were drug taking and setting fire to the place.
"It was 24/7. It was the first time in my life I had to get anti-depressants.
Inside the seaside town named on of the WORST places to live in Britain
"There is drug dealing going on all the time. There's a particular car I recognise and it's dropping things off all the time.
"They deal everything, but it will definitely be crack cocaine. You see them outside houses waiting for drugs, doing their rain dance.
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"You can't go out now without your door locked. Houses around here are full of drugs.
"When I moved here it was excellent. It was really quite wonderful.
"I used to be proud to say, I live on Tennyson Avenue, but I'm not now. There's not much I can do, I have to live through it."
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Lee Jenkinson (left), Liam Langton and Luke Gilson (right) were jailed over a £3m crack cocaine conspiracy
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Locals say houses in the area are 'full of drugs'
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Sat between Tennyson Avenue and the beach is a former HMO
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One CCTV camera has been painted over, rendering it useless
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Simon Elvidge worked as a commercial diver before he was diagnosed with cancer and moved to the street.
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The 59-year-old has been forced to fend off drug takers determined to start fights while high on cocaine.
He said: "This road used to be posh. But now it is full of druggies and drugs.
"It has gradually become worse but I think this is happening to every seaside town.
"They deal all sorts of drugs around here. At one point we had a place on the corner which used to house people coming out of jail.
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"That was a mini crime wave. They would shoplift to pay for their drugs.
"The police are up and down all of the time. I worry about it but I can handle myself. I've had to do it a few times.
"I've had to knock a few crack heads out. One time I had a guy who came up to me and wanted to start a fight.
"But they don't even know what they're doing most of the time, they're so high.
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"I've been here six years but I came from a village to move here.
"That was a huge eye opener for me."
Left to rot
Sat between Tennyson Avenue and the beach is a former HMO which is now boarded up and in a state of neglect.
A sign stuck to the outside simply reads: "CLOSED. To protect your community from anti-social behaviour."
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Around the corner, CCTV cameras operate in the back alleyways and there are signs warning people not to fly-tip. One camera has been painted over, rendering it useless.
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The promenade sits a short distance from Tennyson Avenue
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Retired electrician Ken Wicks, 80, tries to stay away from the troubled spots, but says there's poverty everywhere
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An old sofa sits at the top of the garden, dirty and neglected
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Tennyson Avenue was recently home to Michael Severn, until he was sent to prison for six-and-a-half years for drug dealing.
Severn, 31, was found with an ASDA carrier bag between his legs containing £15,000 worth of cocaine.
A local who didn't want to be named tells us he used to be part of the area's criminal activity before turning his life around.
The young man said: "I grew up around here. It has gone really downhill.
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"It used to be a thriving town and it was a main seaside attraction but now lots of places have closed down.
"Drug deals happen all down this road. They deal all kinds of drugs but definitely crack cocaine.
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Michael Severn was sent to prison for six-and-a-half years for drug dealing
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Bridlington was once a thriving town
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It was a vastly popular tourist destination
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"I've had my own demons in the past but came out the other side.
"I was homeless for months but I used my will power and stopped being around the wrong people.
"All of the people who told me to hang around and stay are the ones still living in tents now.
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"There is one back alley just off this road where all of the druggies go to.
"They are all over this area. You see them waiting around in plain sight."
Desperate deprivation
The most up-to-date figures released by the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) ranked Bridlington South as the 45th most deprived area in England out of almost 33,000.
In 2021 there were 30 drugs death in East Riding, up from 22 in 2020.
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And last year, Bridlington suffered the humiliation of being named the worst coastal resort in Yorkshire.
In March, three criminals were sent down for a combined 17 years after flooding the town with £3million worth of crack cocaine.
Lee Jenkinson, 32, Luke Gibson, 35, and Liam Langton, 27, were snared after a lengthy police probe into rising violence and drug activity between gangs in the town.
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Georgina Marie, 28, worries for her little one, as she sees people 'openly drug deal' in the street
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Georgina Marie is originally from Hull but moved to Bridlington to live with her partner.
The tutor fears for the future of her one-year-old daughter.
The 28-year-old said: "We live five minutes from the centre and people will openly drug deal in the middle of the afternoon in the street.
"But they will admit to doing it. They don't hide it.
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"It's a lot of weed in the town centre but there's other drugs elsewhere.
I worry for my little one. If I had my own way I'd live in the middle of nowhere and send her to a private school.
Georgina
"They are trying to make it a better area for the tourists rather than the people who live here.
"We don't need a new car park, we need community centres for the kids.
"A new car park will be great for the tourists but the locals won't use it. But instead kids are on the streets here because they have nowhere else to go.
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"I would go to the park as a kid but now they're not safe enough."
"Now we see drug dealing in Bridlington and I worry it will escalate to people carrying knives etc. by the time my daughter is older."
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Now, shops stand boarded up or vacant
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In 2015, Bridlington transformed into Walmington-on-Sea for the filming of the Dad's Army movie
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A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council pointed to their Clear Hold Build scheme, which is a "concerted effort to improve quality of life in Bridlington, including by tackling organised crime and antisocial behaviour".
They added: "The aim is to disrupt and dismantle Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) by clearing the area of OCGs, then building community resilience to prevent their return.
"The council has also supported the police by using closure orders against council properties which have been the site of antisocial behaviour, to bring immediate relief to residents."
Ian Foster, the Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Humberside Police, said: "Over the past year our Neighbourhood Policing Team have been working relentlessly in Bridlington to tackle anyone who has been causing harm in the area.
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"We continue to take part in the multi-agency Home Office Clear Hold Build Initiative, which has involved large scale disruption of those involved in organised crime through warrants, arrests and charges.
"As a result of our ongoing work through this initiative, since April 2024, the courts have issued a total of 99 years and five months in prison sentences in relation to organised crime in Bridlington.
"With continued operations to tackle organised crime gangs and drugs dealing, such as Operation Shield, we continually gather intelligence, conduct Misuse of Drugs Act warrants and arrest and bring to justice those who commit drugs offences in our communities.
"Throughout the summer months we have also been running Operation Coastline, our proactive approach to tackling crime in our coastal region as the number of visitors increases.
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"Bridlington is a fantastic place to live, work and visit and we are proud to be part of the community here.
"I urge anyone with any concerns or information about crime to please get in touch via our non-emergency 101 line or speak to an officer on patrol."
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The Irish Sun
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The Irish Sun
12 hours ago
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My Rotherham grooming gang rapist was offered access to our son from jail… it felt like his rights were put before mine
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The Irish Sun
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- The Irish Sun
Shocking moment Ferne McCann's acid attacker ex Arthur Collins is filmed being INJECTED in bum with drugs in jail cell
TV star Ferne McCann's acid attacker ex is seen getting a suspected steroid injection in his cell. Video of Advertisement 7 Ferne McCann's acid attacker ex, Arthur Collins, filmed getting a suspected steroid injection in jail 7 Ferne split up with Arthur after he was arrested for a depraved acid attack Credit: Goff Photos In the clip, Collins is asked, 'Hey, bruv, what are you doing?', by a fellow prisoner — before replying: 'Injecting.' The exchange was caught on our exclusive video, showing laughing Collins apparently receiving a jab in his buttock from another lag. He could face disciplinary action after the body-building drug was seemingly sneaked into the jail, along with a handset used to record footage in his cell. Collins was recently switched from The Mount Prison — where the footage was taken — amid fears he was plotting to import drugs using drones. 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He is mixing with the wrong people and getting involved in all sorts inside. 'As these videos show, he spends a lot of time at the gym and is proud of his progress, although he was using steroids to help him. 'That is what he is doing in the video, and loads of steroids get smuggled into jails. He is a lot slimmer than he was and is proud of being quite shredded, and he is physically strong 'But it would be pretty sickening for any of his victims to see this. Advertisement 'He seems cocky and like he is having a laugh with his mates inside, rather than being punished.' Prison bosses at 1,001-capacity The Mount investigated Collins over smuggled drugs but did not call in police. He was moved to Buckley Hall earlier this year. Sources said the switch was also partly to protect Collins, as the northern jail holds fewer people likely to be linked to his victims. Advertisement They added he was hopeful of having his status lowered to Category D, which could clear him for a move to an open jail. Collins started dating former Towie star Ferne in 2016 but she dumped him after the acid attack. 7 CCTV footage from inside the club during acid attack Credit: Collect She had visited him in jail and revealed she told him: 'This is the last time you will see either of us. You have ruined our lives.' Advertisement Ferne was eliminated second from the most recent series of Dancing on Ice. She starred in ITV show My Family & Me with fiancé We are seeing in prisons the failures of the government's pledges to crack down coming home to roost Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke Her other TV credits include coming third in 2015's I'm A Celebrity. Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke said yesterday: 'The fact that mobile phones and drugs are readily available in jails shows a breakdown at the top of the prison system, which people need to get a grip on. Advertisement 'We are seeing in prisons the failures of the government's pledges to crack down coming home to roost.' And 'These problems could easily be stopped. If a prisoner is caught with something like a smuggled phone or drugs they could be put in solitary for six months and have no visitors. 'If any drones are spotted on the grounds, lock down the prison for a week or two. But successive governments have turned a blind eye.' Advertisement A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'The availability of drugs and other illicit items in prisons is yet more evidence of the crisis this Government inherited. We have an additional invested £10million on anti-drone measures to help us seize more contraband and have a specialist team to bear down on drugs and serious and organised crime. 'We have also created restricted fly zones around prisons, and are collaborating with police to tackle the growing illegal use of drones around prisons.' 7 Collins' 2017 attack, where he hurled acid across in an East London nightclub, left 16 people with serious burns Credit: PA:Press Association 7 Collins was recently switched from The Mount Prison — where the footage was taken — amid fears he was plotting to import drugs using drones Credit: Getty - Contributor Advertisement Ferne tot shock for nightclub acid thug By Michael Hamilton TOWIE'S Ferne McCann told thug Arthur Collins she was having his child two weeks before he threw acid across a nightclub and then went on the run from police. The scaffolder, 32, was jailed for 20 years in 2017 for the attack in Mangle E8, Dalston, East London. He left 16 people with serious burns after getting into a row with a group of men. Collins was arrested in his underpants by armed officers a week later at a house in Higham Ferrers, Northants. Three women gave court evidence and Collins was convicted of five counts of GBH and nine of ABH. Ferne dumped Collins following the attack. In a statement, she said she would raise their child alone and she was 'focusing on being the best mother she can be'. Collins got eight months added to his sentence in 2018 for using a smuggled phone to call her from prison. Ferne is now engaged to entrepreneur Lorri Haines and they have a daughter. The lag also struck up a relationship with ex-glamour model Annie Bullah, who was seen visiting him in jail but they later called it off.
