Addict made life in flats hell

Billy Baldwin hit out at Wigan and Leigh Homes (WALH) after reading in the Wigan Evening Post about problems with drug use experienced at Boyswell House in Scholes by Denise Stott and her family.

Mr Baldwin said he endured four years of hell at Boyswell House between 2006 and 2010 and suffered more anti-social behaviour at Crompton House in Scholes.

He said he was furious to read earlier this week that problems at Boyswell House such as syringes being found on the stairwells and urine and faeces on floors and walls are similar to issues he noticed while he lived there.

Mr Baldwin, 53, said: “It brought back a lot of terrible memories. It’s been going on for years.

“There was all sorts going on at Boyswell House: faeces on the stairs, people living in the bin sheds. I had a drug addict living beneath me ranting and raving all night.

“Eventually I got moved to Crompton to get away from what I had been putting up with. That was fine for about six months but then a new tenant moved in downstairs and everything started again.

“The fly in the ointment with the complaints procedures is that they just don’t work. “

Mr Baldwin, who now rents privately in Whelley, filled out dozens of diary sheets given to him by WALH painstakingly detailing the anti-social behaviour in nearby flats, which included very loud TVs and shouting in the early hours of the morning.

However, WALH say the issues raised by Ms Stott seem to be isolated incidents.

Director of tenancy services Vicky Bannister said: “We have had one report of drugs paraphernalia found last month but regular checks by our team have not found any more issues and we received no further complaints from residents.

“There were no reports of faeces made to us and our staff have not reported finding any such issues since we received the single report.”