Posters advertising a “pop-up drug den” have been put up in west London by residents concerned over a rise in dealing in their area.
The laminated flyers, which claim to offer a 10 per cent discount for new customers, even provide a phone number to “pre-order” drugs — which in fact belongs to Ealing’s Safer Neighbourhoods team.
They were created by members of Hanwell neighbourhood watch group, who want action taken against “open-air” drug dealing in Brent Meadow, a patch of grassland near Ealing Hospital.
A resident, who gave her name as Miss Hutchinson, said she helped to distribute the posters. She told the Standard: “The den has been up and running for the last two months and authorities have done nothing about it. So now the public has decided that they will.
“I have a six-year-old daughter who has been exposed to the well-known drug problem that Hanwell has.”
A large arrow on the posters directs prospective customers to the “drug den” in Brent Meadow, which is popular with families and dog walkers.
A member of the neighbourhood watch, who wished to remain anonymous, said some users went to local shops to beg and shoplift after collecting drugs, adding: “The number of addicts has skyrocketed. Something needs to be done. This situation can’t be ignored by the authorities any longer.”
David Millican, a local councillor, tweeted a photograph of one of the posters yesterday, writing: “Poster spotted this morning by St George’s Field Hanwell posted by residents frustrated at lack of action to rid the area of the scourge of drug dealing.”
The pictures were also uploaded to the Hanwell and Ealing Friends’ Facebook group, where residents have previously aired concerns about drug usage in the neighbourhood.
Latest Met data shows in January this year there were 158 drugs offences in the Norwood Green policing ward, which covers Brent Meadow, compared to 125 in January 2018.
On Monday, Norwood Green police tweeted that they had arrested a man for possession of heroin and crack cocaine after he tried to run into the canal at Brent Meadow.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said local officers were “absolutely committed to arresting offenders”.
