‘Defecating in lifts and shooting up in stairwells’.

FED-up parents are campaigning to be moved from Trafford high rise flats which they claim are blighted by anti-social behaviour. 

A petition has launched calling on Trafford Housing Trust to move all families with young children out of Trafford’s high rise buildings, namely the 14-storey Princess and Empress Court blocks in Stretford. 

The Change.org petition, which has 71 supporters, claims the Cornbrook Park Road buildings are unsafe for children under the age of 13, with families having to climb several flights of stairs when lifts break, children trapping their hands in lift doors, and drug addicts ‘shooting up’ in stairwells.

One mum, Charlotte Ellison, 24, has called on the help of Stretford and Urmston MP Kate Green.

The Empress Court tenant has been lobbying Trafford Housing Trust for a move since falling pregnant with her nine-week-old son.  Her requests have been turned down.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I noticed all these problems,” said Charlotte, who has lived at Empress Court since 2013.

“They seem to be getting even worse.  You have human beings defecating in the stairwell and urinating in lift.  The caretaker put signs up for people to stop spitting and they spit on the signs.  The fire door is also broken, so if a fire breaks my family are in danger.  I am having to put my child into a lift after someone has been smoking in it and carry him up four flights of stairs when the lifts break.

“There are quite a few babies in my block and I know families want to move but are not being allowed.  It’s not safe or hygienic for children to be living in high rise blocks.  They need to do something about it.”

Trafford Housing Trust said that it takes the safety and wellbeing of its customers very seriously.  It said that tower blocks such as Princess and Empress Court are subject to regular checks, cleaned daily and are monitored 24/7 via CCTV. 

A spokesperson for the trust added: “In the last 12 months the Trust has dealt with a very small number of formal complaints from the Princess and Empress blocks and our records show that the lifts require attention on average once a month, and this is usually due to misuse rather than mechanical breakdown.

“The care-taking teams have also reported that they have seen no evidence of hard drug use or defecation in communal areas over the last year.

“However to reassure all residents of both Empress and Princess Court, we have recently launched a new anti-social behaviour action plan to monitor and tackle any issues of anti-social behaviour which have not already been identified through our existing procedures.  

“With regards to tenants wishing to transfer from a flat to alternative accommodation, Trafford Housing Trust operates a fair and transparent policy which ensures that the most vulnerable or high-risk tenants take priority, or to ensure flats are neither over-crowded nor under-occupied.

“Tenants with young children do not fall into that category currently, although we will thoroughly review any request from a customer who believes that their accommodation puts themselves, or others, at risk.”   

To view the petition, click here.