Residents on ‘crumbling’ estate paying for ‘non-existent’ CCTV for more than six years

Residents living on a “crumbling” council estate claim they have paid up to £1,000 for “non-existent” CCTV for more than six years.

Zach Mendelsohn, 48, lives in Ward Point – a block of 99 flats within the Ethelred Towers Estate – in Hotspur Street, Lambeth, with his wife and 10 year-old-daughter.

Mr Mendelsohn said: “We are paying £2.55 per week for non-existent CCTV, which the council has admitted doesn’t work.

“We only found out it didn’t work when my daughter’s bike got stolen nearly seven years ago. I reported it to the police and they told me the CCTV was broken.

“The only people on the estate who will know it doesn’t work are those who have reported a crime – a woman was mugged in the lift a few years ago and the same thing happened.”

Mr Mendelsohn has reported the fault to Lambeth council a number of times. In total his payments for faulty CCTV adds up to nearly £1,000 across the past seven years.

In a council response to Mr Mendelsohn’s complaint in April last year, a spokesman said the CCTV was “irreparable” and a tender to upgrade the system had been submitted.

Once approved, residents would be consulted about the works, but the council could not provide a date for when they would be made.

Mr Mendelsohn said: “I tried to escalate my complaint after the response but now I get nothing back.

“It doesn’t make you feel safe. My daughter wants to walk to school on her own but I can’t let her go down in the lift by herself knowing CCTV doesn’t work.

“I always go downstairs with her when she goes to play – there’s no CCTV in the car park or the play area.”

The broken CCTV is part of a large list of disrepairs residents of the estate are faced with.

Mr Mendelsohn said: “Before the pandemic we had fairly adequate cleaning but now it’s pathetic – once a month instead of weekly – and we have to do some of the cleaning ourselves.

“It’s really embarrassing when we have people round – the block is crumbling.

“One time we came home from a holiday and my daughter started screaming because there were hundreds of flies in the lift lobby.”

Some of Mr Mendelsohn’s concerns, including those relating to fire safety issues, have been left unanswered by the council for as long as 10 years.

He said: “We have a silent fire alarm system, it’s a light that flashes in the concierge office but they closed the office. Supposedly he just walks around checking this light.

“I reported this before and after Grenfell and still nothing.”

Lambeth council has been approached for comment.

Pictured top: Zach Mendelsohn said the block of 99 flats he lives in with his wife and daughter was ‘crumbling’ (Picture: Zach Mendelsohn)