The UK estate terrorised by ‘Lord of the Flies’ kids armed with golf clubs

Life on one Cambridge estate has become increasingly bleak for the small number of residents still living there as they are left to wait for a long-promised redevelopment to begin.

Most of Ekin Road now sits empty and unloved after households moved out in their droves ahead of demolition plans.

It’s left behind rows of boarded-up properties that remaining residents say have become an open invitation to hordes of vandals.

Just 14 of the estate’s original 122 homes were saved from demolition following a residents’ campaign. The remaining 108 properties are due to be knocked down and replaced as part of a redevelopment scheme.

That’s left the few remaining households living among dozens of vacant homes, a situation that some folk there claim has transformed a once-settled neighborhood into something resembling a ghost town.

Cambridge City Council plans to replace the estate with 78 new council houses and 56 private homes.

Residents say that groups of marauding youngsters have been breaking into abandoned flats, smashing windows and wrecking interiors for months now.

Some are said to use discarded bins as makeshift climbing frames to reach sheds, balconies and upper floors before getting smash-happy.

Dr. Maurice Chiodo, who spearheaded the campaign, says that the problems escalated earlier this year as the estate became increasingly empty. He said that vacant buildings have become an easy target for vandals.

‘These are very large groups, sometimes up to twenty, coming in with golf clubs and targeting everything they can find, pulverising it to dust,’ he says.

‘We’ve had households come to us who have lived here for 20 years and said this is the first time they’ve felt unsafe in their own homes.’

Meg Gadja, 63, is the only remaining resident in her block. ‘I live here alone in the whole building and it’s not safe for me,’ she said.

Ms Gadja wants more visible patrols and worries that it is easy for people to tell when she’s not at home.

While 38-year-old Chris Workman is also the only resident in his block after all of his neighbors moved out.

‘It’s unsettling and affecting my sleep because anyone could come in and do anything.

‘They’ve removed the scanning equipment on the rear entrance so I can’t enter that way, they urinate on the floor and use golf clubs to smash windows.’

Cambridge City Council said Ekin Road was selected for redevelopment because some homes, built back in the 1950s and 1960s, suffered from serious maintenance and structural problems.

The authority said leaving the estate unchanged was not an option.

The council acknowledged the difficulties facing residents, saying: ‘We recognize this is a frustrating and sometimes frightening experience.’

It said mobile security patrols, alarms and motion sensors are in place and security measures are reviewed when required.

Cambridgeshire Police, for their part, said that officers are aware of the issues and continue to patrol the area alongside a number of their partners.

The force urged residents to keep reporting incidents to help build a clearer picture of all the antisocial behavior on the estate.