'My Little Bowden dream has died and I just can’t live here any more' - resident says she is moving home after living near a Harborough park that has been at the centre of major anti-social behaviour

A young woman who lives just feet away from a Market Harborough park that was at the centre of major anti-social behaviour is moving away because she’s sick of living in terror.

The 22-year-old single woman said “enough is enough” as she prepares to leave her home on the edge of Little Bowden Recreation Ground.

She’s getting ready to pack her bags after up to 100 young people believed to have been fuelled by drink and drugs fought at the park on Friday June 26.

The astonishing incident sparked a full-scale police response as a 36-hour Dispersal Order was imposed to deter further trouble.

The local resident is too scared to be named “in case I get a brick through my window”.

But she told the Harborough Mail: “I have lived here since last December and I’m fed up to the back teeth.

“It’s terrifying, it’s intimidating and people living around here have had enough.

“I can’t wait to leave now.

“And I know other people here who are also so sick of all the madness and the violence that they are getting out as well.”

She added: “I was actually out for the night that it all kicked off with dozens of thugs fighting just yards from our homes.

“But my neighbours have told me how terrified they were.

“None of us can believe that this out and out mayhem is happening here in Market Harborough and not the middle of a big city like London or Birmingham.”

She said the problems have been spiralling at Little Bowden ‘Rec’ for weeks.

“I live on my own and I thought I’d be fine living next to a lovely park," she added.

“But my dream, if you like, has quickly become a nightmare.

“We’ve had a lot of families flocking here into the park during the day in the recent hot spell and that’s been OK.

“But they go home at teatime and huge groups of noisy teenagers and young people begin to move in and take over.

“They knock back loads of beer and other alcohol so it’s not long before they get drunk and out of control.

“Drugs are a massive problem.

“I can smell weed in the air constantly once the gangs come in and squat down.

“I’ve found empty drugs packets and ‘hippy crack’ balloon canisters scattered all over the park.

She said that ther groups also cause a lot of noise that goes on until the early hours of the morning.

“We have a beautiful, sprawling park here on our doorsteps. But it’s become a no-go zone at night, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, because of these louts,” said the woman, who rents her place.

“You have to be very brave to take on these idiots and confront them.

“Residents get abused and shouted and sworn at for having the courage to tell them to clear off or quieten down.

“I look after my mum’s dog once a week.

“But I hate having to take her on to the park before she settles down for the night – it’s just too scary.

“We had a nurse who parked up outside my house the other day and she ended up having stones and Coke cans thrown at her and her car by kids.

“I went out to comfort her because she was so distressed.

“Imagine doing that to a hero NHS worker?

“It’s just vile, repulsive, totally unacceptable behaviour.”

The Harborough woman said she regularly goes for a run across the park on a morning.

“I have to jog through a sea of litter. These fools leave rubbish strewn all over our fantastic open space. Bottles, cans, crates, cardboard and wrappers as well as drugs waste,” she said.

“It’s just horrible.

“I was woken up at gone midnight the other night to kids off their heads smashing beer bottles off people’s garden fences.

“We were terrified that they were going to come through our windows.

“These drunks and druggies also use the park, people’s gardens and the primary school’s garden as toilets.

“The poor children have been having to deal with human faeces among their beloved plants and flowers.

“It’s horrible and the people responsible should be ashamed.”

Asked about the police response, she replied: “We desperately need a long-term solution to this nightmare here.

“We’ve had to call the police time after time over the last few weeks as people have started to emerge again out of the Covid-19 lockdown.

“But the yobs hear the sirens miles off and run away.

“The police hang around for a while and disappear again.

“We need a much more constant police presence and many more regular patrols to deter lawbreakers and keep them away.

“We should also put up CCTV cameras to catch the culprits and track them down.

“But I’ll be moving out in August – my Little Bowden dream has died and I just can’t live here any more.”

A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman told the Mail: “We are fully aware of the concerns of local people and we are listening to them.

“We are determined to work with them and Harborough District Council to tackle problems at the park.

“We are stepping up police patrols and we are taking this situation very seriously.”