Archway tower block residents face ‘nightmare’ over scaffolding

Ciara Squires, a 34-year-old nurse, said she had also seen at least two people outside her window and found it frightening to return home because people were often loitering outside.

She said CCTV had captured one incident involving five men.

“It was five youngish men. It was just terrifying. Luckily, I wasn’t on my own. I was looking after my mum who is recovering from cancer,” she told BBC London.

Jameel Choudhury, who lives at Archway Heights with his wife and three children, said the scaffolding had attracted rough sleepers who moved into the building’s cycle and storage room.

“We are regularly seeing people going up into the scaffolding, going where they shouldn’t be, breaking into the cycle store, dealing drugs: the type of antisocial behaviour you really don’t want to see,” he said.

Pointing to an area where his bike had been stolen, Choudhury said people had brought duvets, chairs and a microwave into the storage area, where they cooked food and charged devices.

“Just behind these walls there is a child’s bedroom and [the child] used to be able to hear all the stuff they got up to,” he said.