The crack-riddled seaside town where dealers flog £15k hauls in Asda bags and junkies hole up in filthy ‘death row'
Bridlington, in East Yorkshire - once an upmarket and bustling resort - is still renowned for its excellent shellfish and is referred to as the Lobster Capital of Europe.
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The seaside town of Bridlington has experienced a sharp decline in recent years
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Toilets, fridges and other junk rots at the front of boarded-up houses
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Simon Elvidge, 59, said he had to 'knock a few crackheads out' who started on him
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One local told how he was homeless for months but used his 'willpower' to stop being around the wrong people
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But a short distance from the promenade, on Tennyson Avenue, also known as "death row", drug deals are taking place in broad daylight.
The scruffy terraced street was once the pride of the town and home to upmarket B&Bs, but in recent years has suffered a
The Victorian buildings, which retain little of their former grandeur, have been converted into HMOs and flats or else lie empty and boarded up.
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Shortly before 8.30am on a grey, cloudy morning, a scrawny woman walks along the street, which is littered with empty cider cans, clutching a bottle of vodka.
Residents speak of being forced to defend themselves against "crack heads" and nightmare neighbours, who set fire to their flats.
One pensioner says she used to be proud to call Tennyson Avenue home, but now barely recognises it.
The woman, who was too scared to give us her name, said: "The best thing about Bridlington now is the road out of it.
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"Ex prisoners used to live next door, and they were drug taking and setting fire to the place.
"It was 24/7. It was the first time in my life I had to get anti-depressants.
Inside the seaside town named on of the WORST places to live in Britain
"There is drug dealing going on all the time. There's a particular car I recognise and it's dropping things off all the time.
"They deal everything, but it will definitely be crack cocaine. You see them outside houses waiting for drugs, doing their rain dance.
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"You can't go out now without your door locked. Houses around here are full of drugs.
"When I moved here it was excellent. It was really quite wonderful.
"I used to be proud to say, I live on Tennyson Avenue, but I'm not now. There's not much I can do, I have to live through it."
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Lee Jenkinson (left), Liam Langton and Luke Gilson (right) were jailed over a £3m crack cocaine conspiracy
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Locals say houses in the area are 'full of drugs'
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Sat between Tennyson Avenue and the beach is a former HMO
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One CCTV camera has been painted over, rendering it useless
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Simon Elvidge worked as a commercial diver before he was diagnosed with cancer and moved to the street.
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The 59-year-old has been forced to fend off drug takers determined to start fights while high on cocaine.
He said: "This road used to be posh. But now it is full of druggies and drugs.
"It has gradually become worse but I think this is happening to every seaside town.
"They deal all sorts of drugs around here. At one point we had a place on the corner which used to house people coming out of jail.
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"That was a mini crime wave. They would shoplift to pay for their drugs.
"The police are up and down all of the time. I worry about it but I can handle myself. I've had to do it a few times.
"I've had to knock a few crack heads out. One time I had a guy who came up to me and wanted to start a fight.
"But they don't even know what they're doing most of the time, they're so high.
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"I've been here six years but I came from a village to move here.
"That was a huge eye opener for me."
Left to rot
Sat between Tennyson Avenue and the beach is a former HMO which is now boarded up and in a state of neglect.
A sign stuck to the outside simply reads: "CLOSED. To protect your community from anti-social behaviour."
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Around the corner, CCTV cameras operate in the back alleyways and there are signs warning people not to fly-tip. One camera has been painted over, rendering it useless.
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The promenade sits a short distance from Tennyson Avenue
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Retired electrician Ken Wicks, 80, tries to stay away from the troubled spots, but says there's poverty everywhere
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An old sofa sits at the top of the garden, dirty and neglected
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Tennyson Avenue was recently home to Michael Severn, until he was sent to prison for six-and-a-half years for drug dealing.
Severn, 31, was found with an ASDA carrier bag between his legs containing £15,000 worth of cocaine.
A local who didn't want to be named tells us he used to be part of the area's criminal activity before turning his life around.
The young man said: "I grew up around here. It has gone really downhill.
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"It used to be a thriving town and it was a main seaside attraction but now lots of places have closed down.
"Drug deals happen all down this road. They deal all kinds of drugs but definitely crack cocaine.
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Michael Severn was sent to prison for six-and-a-half years for drug dealing
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Bridlington was once a thriving town
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It was a vastly popular tourist destination
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"I've had my own demons in the past but came out the other side.
"I was homeless for months but I used my will power and stopped being around the wrong people.
"All of the people who told me to hang around and stay are the ones still living in tents now.
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"There is one back alley just off this road where all of the druggies go to.
"They are all over this area. You see them waiting around in plain sight."
Desperate deprivation
The most up-to-date figures released by the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) ranked Bridlington South as the 45th most deprived area in England out of almost 33,000.
In 2021 there were 30 drugs death in East Riding, up from 22 in 2020.
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And last year, Bridlington suffered the humiliation of being named the worst coastal resort in Yorkshire.
In March, three criminals were sent down for a combined 17 years after flooding the town with £3million worth of crack cocaine.
Lee Jenkinson, 32, Luke Gibson, 35, and Liam Langton, 27, were snared after a lengthy police probe into rising violence and drug activity between gangs in the town.
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Georgina Marie, 28, worries for her little one, as she sees people 'openly drug deal' in the street
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Georgina Marie is originally from Hull but moved to Bridlington to live with her partner.
The tutor fears for the future of her one-year-old daughter.
The 28-year-old said: "We live five minutes from the centre and people will openly drug deal in the middle of the afternoon in the street.
"But they will admit to doing it. They don't hide it.
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"It's a lot of weed in the town centre but there's other drugs elsewhere.
I worry for my little one. If I had my own way I'd live in the middle of nowhere and send her to a private school.
Georgina
"They are trying to make it a better area for the tourists rather than the people who live here.
"We don't need a new car park, we need community centres for the kids.
"A new car park will be great for the tourists but the locals won't use it. But instead kids are on the streets here because they have nowhere else to go.
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"I would go to the park as a kid but now they're not safe enough."
"Now we see drug dealing in Bridlington and I worry it will escalate to people carrying knives etc. by the time my daughter is older."
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Now, shops stand boarded up or vacant
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In 2015, Bridlington transformed into Walmington-on-Sea for the filming of the Dad's Army movie
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A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council pointed to their Clear Hold Build scheme, which is a "concerted effort to improve quality of life in Bridlington, including by tackling organised crime and antisocial behaviour".
They added: "The aim is to disrupt and dismantle Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) by clearing the area of OCGs, then building community resilience to prevent their return.
"The council has also supported the police by using closure orders against council properties which have been the site of antisocial behaviour, to bring immediate relief to residents."
Ian Foster, the Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Humberside Police, said: "Over the past year our Neighbourhood Policing Team have been working relentlessly in Bridlington to tackle anyone who has been causing harm in the area.
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"We continue to take part in the multi-agency Home Office Clear Hold Build Initiative, which has involved large scale disruption of those involved in organised crime through warrants, arrests and charges.
"As a result of our ongoing work through this initiative, since April 2024, the courts have issued a total of 99 years and five months in prison sentences in relation to organised crime in Bridlington.
"With continued operations to tackle organised crime gangs and drugs dealing, such as Operation Shield, we continually gather intelligence, conduct Misuse of Drugs Act warrants and arrest and bring to justice those who commit drugs offences in our communities.
"Throughout the summer months we have also been running Operation Coastline, our proactive approach to tackling crime in our coastal region as the number of visitors increases.
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"Bridlington is a fantastic place to live, work and visit and we are proud to be part of the community here.
"I urge anyone with any concerns or information about crime to please get in touch via our non-emergency 101 line or speak to an officer on patrol."
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The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Iran planning to execute 30,000 in repeat of horror 1988 ‘massacre' as part of desperate crackdown, insiders fear
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Glaring vulnerabilities in the regime's grip on power have been exposed after Israel and the US launched a monumental effort to destroy its nuclear threat. Executions and arrests are weaponised to scare dissidents, and it is feared panicked Ayatollah Khamenei is planning a similar plot to the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners. The regime was also in turmoil that year after accepting a ceasefire with Iraq. Most read in The Sun Now, death sentences against those affiliated with the main democratic opposition, the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK), are being expedited as Khamenei scrambles for control. Chillingly, state-run Fars News Agency - a mouthpiece of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - this month issued a public call to repeat 1998's inhumane massacre as the regime fears for its survival. Dad set to be executed in Iran shares powerful audio message blasting regime from behind bars British politicians and leading human rights lawyers have urged the UK government to intervene to prevent such an atrocity. Alongside the (NCRI), they also criticised the focus on Tehran's nuclear programme, warning that it has overshadowed the worsening human rights crisis. Baroness O'Loan DBE said: "Those threatening our national security are the same individuals planning atrocities in Iran's prisons. So, we must act, now." Dowlat Nowrouzi, the NCRI's UK representative, told The Sun: "The international community's failure to hold the regime accountable for its atrocities, including crimes against humanity and genocide, has allowed the regime to enjoy impunity. "It is long overdue to hold Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and others accountable for committing these crimes. It comes as one of Iran's longest-serving political prisoners has laid bare the dire situation in a handwritten letter shared with The Sun. More than 100 armed guards raided the ward Masouri was on, beating prisoners before hauling them across the floor with handcuffs and leg shackles and bags over their heads. Masouri has been exiled to the notorious Zahedan Prison - just days after penning a haunting letter warning a massacre is looming. 9 Saeed Masouri has been in jail for 25 years Credit: NCRI 9 He shared a chilling handwritten letter from inside jail Credit: SUPPLIED 9 Four Iranian convicts hanging after a public execution in 2007 Credit: AFP 9 Pictures show a man named Balal who was led to the gallows by his victim's family He wrote: "Just as it happened in 1988, today we fear that the same path is being repeated, albeit with different language and methods. "Back then, it was called the 'Death Committee'; today, it is 'Fire at discretion'. "But this widespread repression and intensification of executions are not signs of strength—they are admissions of the regime's helplessness in the face of truth and the will of the people. "Likewise, this so-called 'fire at discretion' is nothing but an attempt to conceal the depth of infiltration, decay, and structural collapse within the ruling system—failures they now seek to compensate for by exacting revenge on the people of Iran and their prisoners." All contact between political prisoners and their families has now been cut off. Ms Nowrouzi added: "The assault on Mr. Masouri is not an isolated incident. "It is part of a broader campaign of escalating executions, arbitrary detentions, and systematic repression. "The regime, emboldened by decades of impunity and inaction, is now openly signaling its intent to repeat the horrors of 1988. "As Mr. Masouri warned in his message from prison, 'a crime is in progress,' and the world must not remain silent." Iran's calculating mullahs meanwhile are refusing to hand the bodies of slain Ehsani and Hassani back to their grieving families. How Iran is stifling critics after defeat to Israel by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) TYRANNICAL leaders in Iran have demanded citizens act as undercover informants to turn in anyone who dares oppose the regime, insiders say. Panicked mullahs have also ordered "telecom cages" be installed around prisons as the regime Political prisoners - largely Insiders say their treatment is being weaponised to deter opposition. The fight against repression has loomed large for decades in the rogue state - but the so-called 12-day war last month has made the barbaric Ayatollah more fearful than ever of being toppled. Sources inside Iran told The Sun how a direct alert has been issued to the public, urging them to report any activity linked to resistance groups of the People's Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK). 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Iran has one of the most horrific human rights records in the world, and according to campaigners also holds the harrowing title for the highest execution rate. Official records show that the number of executions last year reached 1,000 - the highest number in 30 years and 16 percent higher than the previous. Insiders believe this year that distressing toll will be much higher. 9 Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei makes his first public appearance since the war with Israel on July 6 Credit: Getty 9 A demonstrator takes part in a protest against the Iranian government outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California on June 23 Credit: Reuters
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Small boat migrant found dead riddled with bullets on French coast after being gunned down ‘by people smugglers'
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The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
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Funfair owner insists ride was tested just hours before teen suffered life-changing injuries after ‘getting hair caught'
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