October 30, 2021 8.03 am This story is over 29 months old

Inside Grimsby’s most deprived neighbourhood

‘It’s so disgusting I can’t let my kids in the garden’ – life on Grimsby’s most deprived street
Weelsby Street, Grimsby | Photo: Jamie Waller

Living on a street where a man ended up with a broken jaw for asking teenagers to quieten down has become a ‘nightmare’ for residents.

Weelsby Street in Grimsby is ranked as one of the most deprived neighbourhoods of the country.

However, residents say the constant violence and intimidation is worse than any housing or employment problems.

People on the street said living there was a “nightmare” | Photo: LDRS

People live in fear of the fights which see men squaring up to each other in the streets, with one resident saying there are literally ‘no good points’ to living there.

“It is disgusting here – I absolutely hate it,” one woman who asked not to be named said.

“A bloke down the road had his face smashed in back in January. All he did was ask some teenagers outside his house to keep it down because his baby was asleep inside.

“They just went for him and left him with a broken jaw.

“It happened around teatime in broad daylight when there were families about. You don’t want your kids seeing that.

“There was an ambulance here the other week as well – we heard a man had attacked a woman with a pizza cutter.

“It’s really, really bad – basically a nightmare.”

An area’s statistics for income, employment, education, health, crime, living environment and housing are all used to determine its level of deprivation.

The latest study ranks the section of Weelsby Street and Victor Street north of Eleanor Street as one of the most run-down places in England.

Out of around 30,000 local areas, the neighbourhood is the 22nd worst off.

It’s not alone there – plenty of other areas around Grimsby town centre are also in the bottom ten per cent for deprivation.

Another resident described the daily problems that residents on Weelsby Street face.

“Kids are always kicking balls at windows and cars, causing damage to them, but you don’t want to go and confront them,” she said.

“And then you have men kicking off into the middle of the road or in Castle Street, squaring up to each other.

“I daren’t let my kids out in the garden because of all the bad language they would hear.

“It’s like no one cares. There’s a constant smell of marijuana and you see rats in the middle of the road.

“I lived on a road near Peaks Parkway before this and people were lovely and looked after each other – not here.  No one gets on with each other here.

“There are no good points about this road. I would tell anyone thinking about moving here to think again.”