Our corner of UK used to be thriving hotspot – now it's a rat-ridden unrecognisable dump that's on brink of exploding

The Sun

2 days ago

A PROUD East End suburb that used to be a thriving hot spot, is now a rat-ridden dump, locals have told The Sun.
Residents in Bethnal Green have described the streets as "unrecognisable", claiming the tight-knit community has disappeared from their doorsteps in recent years - but there's much debate if a notorious former resident is to blame.
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Business owners are disgusted to see piles of rubbish lining Bethnal Green Road - the heartbeat of the east London suburb - and areas behind their shops.
Serif Farmer, who runs Solis Launderette, explained that money was the only thing stopping her from leaving.
She said: "I've worked here for 32 years and it's gone downhill. 100%.
'If I had money I would move out tomorrow, preferably abroad. Bethnal Green is just not a beautiful place anymore.
"It used to be so clean and spotless but now it's just a dump.
"If you go out the back [of the shop] it's just terrible out there.
"It's just all cardboard boxes on the floor and it is just rat-ridden out there.
"I'm surprised shop owners haven't been done for it.
"I'm not saying the people are horrible, but the place has gone downhill. It's just changed so much."
According to a 2021 report, Tower Hamlets Council has been forced to slash more than £200 million since 2010.
ISIS bride Shamima Begum LOSES battle for British citizenship and must stay in Syria for now
It blamed the huge cuts on Government austerity and "increasing demand" in the area, with the council pointing to the ongoing impact of Covid.
The report also referenced the Tower Hamlets Poverty Review, which found that, in a typical classroom of 30 children, 17 were living below the poverty line.
It added that 44% of elderly people were living in low-income households.
Serif, 63, went on to say that community spirit in Bethnal Green had "died out".
She added: 'My mum came from Cyprus, she taught herself how to speak and read English when she moved here.
'She integrated with everybody, with the locals, and my dad did too.
'It was such a great area and everybody mixed, all different nationalities. We all got on and the atmosphere was brilliant.
'When me and my brother first came here, the whole community was close and we all spoke with each other.
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"We used to have celebrations with everyone sitting out on the streets, but now everyone is depressed.
'It's not safe like it used to be where they used to get the police round and you recognised faces on the high street.
'There's more crime, more phone snatching, things like that."
'It's not a community like it was years ago."
"People drive around with flags in their cars and are very vocal in their support.
'You never used to be worried walking down an East End street.
'It's always been rough and ready around here - it's famous for it - but there was a community here.
'Locals are scared and the East End is gone. It's only going from bad to worse.'
The regulars also fumed that "bread and butter" locals had disappeared from Bethnal Green.
They added: "It's supposed to be the East End of London.
'In general, before you used to be able to walk down the street and say hello to everyone, we all knew each other.
'But nowadays the community just isn't there. In terms of your locals, your bread and butter of the community, they're gone.
"It's gone. It's not how it used to be."
Shamima Begum
Further down the high street, punters at The Marquis of Cornwallis pub told how former resident Shamima Begum 's decision to join ISIS had caused more scepticism in the area.
Begum - who fled the country in February 2015 - continues to divide opinion across the London borough where she once resided.
But locals are clear on one thing - the famous soul of the area has gone.
They claim that the way of life in Bethnal Green has changed "to the extreme" since Begum left the UK at the age of 15.
She was joined by two pals - Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana - as they flew from Gatwick Airport to Turkey after lying to their parents.
Begum, who was born in the UK to parents of Bangladeshi heritage, married an Islamic State fighter soon after arriving.
Her British citizenship was stripped on national security grounds in 2019 and she now lives in the armed-guard controlled Al-Roj refugee camp in Northern Syria.
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One pub punter told The Sun: 'In terms of Shamima Begum, it's quite hard to say.
'In general, I think people started looking at their neighbours - especially when she first left - and thinking twice about them.
'It's just human nature to be suspicious like that. The community is now very divided. It's a huge shame really.
'What has made things worse recently as well is the Israel and Palestine war. That has the potential to explode in this area."
People started looking at their neighbours, especially when Shamima first left, and thinking twice about them
Punter at The Marquis of Cornwallis pub
Enora Birec, 26, barmaid at The Kings Arms added: 'I go up and down this high street twice a day. It is a very diverse place.
'I do think in general it is slightly more closed off than it was.
'I have a Bangladeshi friend who told me that the community was being pushed away from the area.
"She (Begum) was in a building that was being knocked down in the Bethnal Green area.
'But the Bangladeshi community is quite strong here, I think they are very settled.'
According to a Government report released in 2014, the largest ethnic groups in the Bethnal Green area were White British (37%) and Bangladeshi (32%).
More than a third of the residents in the east London town were Muslim, with 25.8% Christian and 21.9% not belonging to any religion.
Local businesses are suffering
Yakup Ozkurt, who owns the 51-year-old White Horse Kebab House, admitted that he had taken the tough decision to sell the business.
Pointing to Bethnal Green's "unrecognisable" community, the 56-year-old said: "It was a good area. But for me, it is finished.
'I've been living here for 27 years. The first time I came to Bethnal Green, it was predominantly English people.
"In the last ten years in this area, lots of that core population has left.
'People would say hello, good morning to you. Lots of people were close and got on.
"But now, people are never smiling. The community is not very close, no one talks to anyone.
'Before they had loads of pubs but they're all closed or closing.
'This shop is 51 years old, but I'm selling it now because this area is finished."
Resident Mohamed Miah suggested the borough had become "unrecognisable" in recent years.
The 40-year-old, who runs the local taxi office, said: 'Bethnal Green, I was born and raised here. It's not like the old East End anymore.
'From when I was growing up to now, it's not recognisable anymore.
'This is the oldest cab office in Bethnal Green - our customers have moved out from here.
'There's a lot of drunken behaviour and people doing balloons, driving up and down in their cars all night.
'There's more CCTV on the road, so in that sense they are doing well.
'But everything has changed here man, it's not like the old school.'
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Staff members at Trotters Jewellers, which has been on the high street for 35 years, added that the face of the high street had changed "to the extreme".
They explained: "It's changed to the extreme, it's not like the old East End anymore.
'We're one of the most established businesses, but also one of the lasting few.
"Of course, it's changed totally. It's not thriving at all and everything is stacked against you.
It's changed to the extreme. It's not like the old East End anymore.
Staff at Trotters Jewellers
"Having a business here is a lot harder than it was 10 years ago for sure.
'We have shops in Liverpool Street and Hatton Garden, but we've noticed such a change, especially here. Not for the good.'
Market stall trader Aissa Derouiche, told how tourists were no longer flocking to Bethnal Green, despite it being located just minutes from the popular Brick Lane area.
The 55-year-old, who has worked on the street for 17 years, fumed: 'Everything has changed.
"Some people left and businesses have suffered. Shops have closed and the place has changed for the worse.
'The community is close, but it has grown apart in recent years because people have left.
'Tourists have stopped coming to Bethnal Green in the last ten years which has had a huge impact on my business."
Shamima Begum's fight to regain UK citizenship
She married an Islamic State fighter soon after arriving in 2015 and went on to have three children.
Her UK citizenship was stripped on national security grounds in 2019.
In February 2020, a tribunal ruled that removing Ms Begum's citizenship was lawful because she was "a citizen of Bangladesh by descent".
In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that Ms Begum could not return to the UK to appeal the decision to remove her citizenship.
Her lawyers challenged the removal of her citizenship at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission two years later.
The commission agreed that there was a credible suspicion that Begum was a victim of trafficking and sexual exploitation, but it ruled this did not stand in the way of stripping her of British citizenship.
That decision was upheld at the Court of Appeal in February 2024.
Earlier this year, she lost an initial bid to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Begum remains in a camp controlled by armed guards in northern Syria.
Society has moved on since Shamima
However, some locals claimed that Begum's name was no longer commonly heard around the area.
Mohammed Ahmed, who works at his father's shop Continental Grocers, slammed the government's decision to strip her of her British citizenship.
He said: "She is not a big deal around here anymore.
'Look, she fled to Syria. She was very young at the time.
'I think the decision to strip her of her citizenship was wrong. It's worse now because she has kids
I wouldn't say I miss her. I am only missing out on a customer because she's not here
Shop worker Mohammed Ahmed
'It's not the case that it's embarrassing for the community, but it doesn't ever get brought up.
'I wouldn't say I miss her. I didn't know her.
'I am only missing out on a customer because she's not here."
Bangladeshi nationals Sharif Sarker and Chunki Akter hailed the east London town as a "home from home".
The couple, who moved to Bethnal Green two years ago, explained that living there had made following their traditions easier.
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Chunki said: "To be honest, we are not a very strong part of the community.
"We have only been here for two years and don't really know who the community leaders are.
'We moved from Bangladesh in 2023. We came here because there is a strong Bangladeshi group here.
'But Bethnal Green is mostly Bengali and it really helps us as we try to follow our traditions, especially with food.
'I used to live in Barking but it was a pain to go shopping.
'Everything I used to eat in Bangladesh, I can get it here. It's easy.
'We feel at home here, we can speak our language and buy our food here.'
Cab driver Reg Singh was four years old when he moved to Bethnal Green from India.
The 71-year-old added: "It was a different scene then.
'It was a neighbourhood, people knew one another and it was a community we had here. It was wonderful.
'Over the past few years there have been big changes.
'It's changed because there's a different community in the area.
"There's a more predominantly Bangladeshi and Muslim community.
'The East End way of life has changed because whatever community comes in, they bring their own way of life.
'I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I think it's good. That's just how it is.'
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