Featherstone: Residents say they live in UK's 'grimmest' village surrounded by three prisons

Villagers say they’re used to seeing alcoholics and drug-users collapsing in the street - which is shown in the video as being full of potholes and rubbish. Featherstone is surrounded by three prisons - residents say inmates have it better than local homeowners.

Smashed windows and crumbling houses

Footage shows a bordered up former pub, with smashed windows and surrounded by security fences. Rubbish is strewn on pavements, while houses are literally left to crumble. You can also see a newly built bus shelter which was recently set on fire.

Drug dealing and constant break-ins

Residents of the South Staffordshire village say it’s become a hotspot for drug dealers, and that bins are overflowing with dog-poo but the council don’t bother to empty them. One local said: “There’s drug abuse, people picking up and selling drugs. It’s atrocious.” They also described ‘constant break-ins’, adding that ‘police are not interested’.

‘Prisoners must feel sorry for us’

Shopworker, Thomas Rowe, 30, said: “It’s a bit of a joke among the locals that the inmates in the prisons nearby are luckier than us. When they look out of their barred windows they probably feel quite sorry for us because our lives are worse than theirs.” Since January this year there have been 39 violent and sexual offences, 13 vehicle crimes, six thefts and five case of criminal damage and arson.