Residents fear oversize rats and drug dealers in neighbourhood ‘crime hotspot’

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A neighbourhood known for its cool bars and restaurants is at risk of being overrun by drug dealers and giant rats unless it gets a clean-up, residents and shoppers have claimed.

Residents say groups of youths gather in Camberwell Green until the early hours peddling drugs, while huge rats roam in packs through grassy areas on the common.

Camberwell resident Cassie Graham, who passes through the park weekly, said she regularly saw the massive rodents hanging out in the grass.

The 32-year-old said: “I don’t like the rats. I see them all the time and it’s not really hygienic.

“I don’t know where the rats are coming from, but they’re quite big. I usually see about five of them together. I think the council should do something about them. I don’t think it’s good for people to be lying on the grass with them.”

But Janet Emmanuel, 60, said she thought the green had cleaned up in recent years, partly because of the influx of well-to-do Londoners into the area.

She said: “It’s quite nice now and they have a farmer’s market at the weekend that’s really lovely.

“Certainly it has been gentrified. On one hand that’s a good thing and on the other hand people have been pushed out. It’s quite open and always busy so it tends to feel safe, but I don’t know if I would be coming through here at one o’clock in the morning.”

Statistics from the Met show that Camberwell Green is a crime hotspot. Latest figures show that 13 offences were reported by the Green in June.

Of these crimes, six were classed as antisocial behaviour. In May, the Green was also listed as a crime hotspot, with 14 offences reported directly next to it, 10 of which were antisocial behaviour.

In the wider Camberwell Green neighbourhood, there were 223 crimes reported. The most common crimes were violence and sexual offences, followed by antisocial behaviour and ‘other theft’.

Southwark council were contacted about the issues raised in this article but had failed to respond at the time of publication.

Pictured top: Camberwell residents Janet Emmanuel, left, with Francesca Emmanuel, right (Picture: Robert Firth)