County lines dealing in Harrogate leaving residents "afraid to leave home"
People in Bilton and Woodfield say it's become a "never ending nightmare" for them
Last updated 2nd Nov 2021
A week on from our exclusive interview with an active county lines drug dealer, people in parts of Harrogate worst affected it say they've been left afraid to leave their homes.
We have been contacted by terrified residents who don't want to walk down the street alone for fear of seeing active drug dealers.
Discarded needles, drug wrappers and litter bins with notices asking people not to discard sharps in them are just some of the things which can be seen as you walk through the area.
It's left residents and business owners in Bilton and Woodfield worried for the future.
The area's local postmaster, Andrew Hart, is worried some of his older and more vulnerable customers could become victims of cuckooing - where drug gangs take over the home of a vulnerable person in order to use it as a base for county lines drug trafficking.
He said: "I know an old lady well into her 80s who wants to go into her home because she daren't go back into Woodfield as one of her neighbours is a drug dealer and she can't face it.
"People that I've grown to love and respect come into the Post Office every day and they're on their own with no one to look after them. They're attracting the wrong type of attention.
"Older people are being approached by men, women and even youngsters wanting drugs because they've gone to the wrong addresses. They're seeing a constant flow of taxis from Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester at various times in the night. It's extremely frightening for these people."
Mr Hart has met with the newly elected Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Phillip Allot, to raise his concerns.
When we approached Mr Allot, he assured us tackling county lines in North Yorkshire was one of his priorities.
He said: "There are still another 47 active in North Yorkshire at this moment in time and I intend to play my part in bringing those down.
"We will also be looking at North Yorkshire's border, especially with West Yorkshire, better. We've got over 6000 miles of roads so it is a very big area.
"We have taken down over 100 county lines in the last 12 months but we're urging people who have any information to share it with us."
But residents in Bilton and Woodfield are too afraid to approach the police in case they then become targets for gangs.
One business owner said: "They can cause threatening behaviour. You just see it going on and it's obvious what's going on. You can ring someone and they'll come and check it but they're always doing it.
"Living opposite that I see a lot of what's going on. A lot of it I just turn a blind eye because what's the point?"
Another, said: "I've seen what looked like exchanges or something and I didn't want to go up and tackle it because I was too scared to do that. People are afraid to tell the police in case there are any repercussions."
A staff member at a café in Bilton is concerned the issue could soon start affecting businesses.
He said: "You see the bins outside with the sign saying to not put needles in it. If you're walking past and want to sit and have a bite to eat at a café, would you want to do it next to that?"
His colleague, added: "We've turned the bin around so that when you look out you can't see the sign about the needles, but we shouldn't have to do that."
Two PCSOs and a dedicated officer are based in Bilton and Woodfield to crack down on dealers and to provide more reassurance the worry from residents is that it could go on forever if more isn't done.
North Yorkshire Police carried out a crack down on county lines drug dealing in a national week of action.
Raids took place in Harrogate, York, Thirsk, Scarborough, Whitby as well as making arrests on the A1.