Residents ‘living in fear’ due to ongoing anti-social behaviour in Page Hall

The Firth Park Neighborhood Network, which also covers Page Hall, made the statement following yet another mass brawl in the suburb over the weekend.

It is the latest incident in the troubled community which, in recent months, has seen continued disorder and complaints that not all residents are adhering to social distancing guidelines.

The neighbourhood group has now called for an end to the anti-social behaviour, which they say is being caused by only a small part of the community.

A Firth Park Neighborhood Network member said: "It seems to be a minority and recent incidents have proven that.

"The police in one way are trying but it’s not working. They know when they’re coming and disperse.

"People are getting quite frustrated and frightened. They're intimidated, they daren’t go out. A lot of them are isolating and they’re just living in fear because they can't open their windows at night when its too warm because of the fighting and the noise. It's affecting people’s mental health.”

Page Hall has long been plagued by divisions between the different communities living there.

The community group had been working cohesively with South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield Council to rectify some of the longstanding problems but say that, due to lockdown, some of this work has now been ‘undone’.

"The lockdown did not help at all,” the Firth Park Neighbourhood Network member added.

"We felt like we were getting somewhere with the groups in the area but the lockdown has had a very big impact on that. The area has now gotten worse than it was before.

"A lot of the residents who have lived here a long time are afraid and feel like they're being driven out of the area.

"We don’t want to have negativity with the area because it is a good area. We’ve got the amenities so we don’t want its reputation to perish more than what it already has done.”

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